Two Sides to Every Story
by Sarnai4
Summary: A look into the mind of Dagur the Deranged during his time onscreen.
1. Twinsanity

We had set sail for Berk a few hours prior and were almost there. I was so excited to show my friend Hiccup and the others my new position. There, also, was the matter of learning whether or not they had a new army in the making. Very important. We docked and Herald introduced me. He really does do a good job at announcements and I made a mental note to award him later.

They seemed surprised to learn that I was the new chief and who could blame them? It was a fun new thing for us all! Anyway, I saw Hiccup and threw a knife at him. Not to kill him or anything, but to make sure his reflexes were still sharp [laughs]. I mentioned their new army and they denied having one. My sources are to be trusted, though, and I was reluctant to just take Stoick's word. I never got along with that guy too much. I let them know that if they **were** lying, I would be forced to send in my armada and wipe them out.

We went back to discussing the treaty and get this? They were hesitant about giving me the tour! Talked about how my father never found it necessary. Well, as I am **not** my father, I **did** find it necessary. Maybe next time you want to be inconspicuous, be less adamant on not showing people around. So they finally realized that I was not going to give on the matter and conceded.

The armory was first and-I will admit-they had some pretty cool weapons. Gobber has always made good killing machines. They began talking about how our tribes would still be in peace and how I had to sign the paper. It was so boring! And they sounded **just** like my ol' man. They mentioned a Zippleback, accidentally, and I prepared to attack. Supposedly, it was nothing and I went outside.

Hiccup was waiting out there in the most peculiar position. His arms were above his head. He was, probably, just really happy to see me again. We reminisced on me almost drowning him in the water.[laughs] I mean, there **are** Scauldrons. You know, **water** dragons. You do not want to find out that you cannot prevent someone from drowning you, when they are out for blood. He was always a good sport about it, though.

Thinking about good times grew old and I noticed his lack of a shin. We laughed about how ridiculous it would be if he had lost it fighting the Red Death. How would he not just get stepped on by a claw? He denied everything about training the dragons too. Hiccup reminded us about the traditional feast and we started to leave, but not before hearing a roar. We turned to see the one legged viking claiming that it came from his stomach. Stoick insisted we go to the hall for the feast too soon for me comment on that.

I tried to propose a toast to death in battle-referring to our enemies, obviously- but Stoick had to make it all sentimental and toasted Oswald. Gobber kept trying to shove that treaty down my throat as if I would attack them any second otherwise. Maybe minute, but not second. I complied and sought to call forth the dragon blood. They claimed that sense they killed **so** many dragons, that there were none left to use. Load of yak dung. And that was proven when a Zippleback barged in the room.

It was, clearly, a sign that we each could have one head to slay and I chased after the beast. Calling on my armada, we caught the Zippleback. I raised my sword to kill the dragon, but Stoick had the nerve to stop me. I suppose he was right and it **is** customary to kill the dragon together, so we went to their killing arena. Something that, no doubt, had not been used in a while.

I raised my weapon again, but was stopped by a dragon attack. A Gronckle, Monstrous Nightmare, and Deadly Nadder flew in and attacked my men. Gobber tried to protect me from the beasts, but I am not one to be protected. I ran to behead that Zippleback like I had decided I would and it blasted me. Still, I was undeterred and threw a spear at one of the heads. A perfect shot, I might add. It was intercepted by another dragon. A Nightfury!

I was in shock and Hiccup arrived to help me attack the dragon. He hit me, by accident, with his shield and kept trying to convince me to retreat. But how could I? Leaving is a coward's move and to leave Hiccup, **Hiccup**, of all people to fight in my stead is even worse! He told me that my people needed me and was right. They had lost too many leaders already and I am irreplaceable. I told Gobber to consider the treaty signed and left, hoping my little friend would be okay.

On our route back to Berserker Island, I thought about how I needed to understand dragons. Learn how they attack, sleep, just live. I decided that I would go to Dragon Island and stay there until I learned enough about the beasts. About that Nightfury.


	2. The Night and the Fury

I was still on my quest to hunt down dragons, but was resting at my base. Killing reptiles takes a lot out of you. Suddenly, I sensed someone coming and tackled them to the ground. You can imagine my surprise when I saw Hiccup. I brought him into a hug. He was alive **a****nd** he saved my life after all! Reenacting how it went down, I grew curious as to why he was in the forest alone. It made sense to me that he must have been hunting dragons too. What a fun time that would have been! I howled in joy and he joined me. It really is a wonderful way to let out excitement.

Curiousity struck me again and I asked what happened to that Night Fury. Get this. He said it got away! [laughs] A gift from Odin himself. We were going to get that Night Fury if it killed us. It would be easier with Hiccup working with me. I told him how I could not stop thinking about how he just **knew** what that dragon would do. It was amazing. That was why I had decided to stay on Dragon Island for...well, I am not sure how long, but it was to observe (and kill) dragons.

I showed my friend all the cool souvenirs I had obtained by my hunts. Got a Nadder spine-hurt like heck, but was **worth it!**-I got a Monstrous Nightmare head too. It was a real beaut. Took down a Gronckle. [laughs] He thought that my yak meal was its leg. No, I do not **eat** dragons. Hiccup just had a shield. Quite ornate like my sister's, but I prefer being on the offensive instead of **defensive**.

After I told him how I had stayed on the island, he suggested that I take a break. As if![laughs] No breaks until the Night Fury died. The dragon's presence was clear to me. I could feel it in my heart and was sure that my little friend could also. He said he just felt awkward. That jokster![laughs] He and I would take down that unholy beast as brothers. A marvelous day that would be.

A sound called my attention to a dragon being close and I thought that it was the Night Fury. Brother said that it was too big. Pushing him down to safety, we saw that it was a Monstrous Nightmare. A Night-something, but not **our** Night-something. Still, I was going to slay it and he hit my arm to stop me. Rage overtook me for a moment until he explained himself. Apparently, Night Furies can smell when arrows are being shot and it would have been on alert. We were making the best team!

Another sound came and it was quieter. I hid Hiccup and myself in the brush and assumed that it was the Night Fury. He mentioned it could be a yak. No chances, though and I prepared my bow. Brother's dark haired friend Snotlout came out the bushes. Great. Just what we needed. Some dumb viking that cannot keep his trap closed on our stealth mission. I shook my head as Hiccup talked to him. Purposefully, I said his name wrong. It was the only fun thing about being around him. Such an incompetent kid, I cannot **stand **that!

Hiccup tried to tell him that we were hunting and he just could not understand that concept. Ugh! Some screams came and we saw Fishlegs. I swear, Hiccup and I differ on what "alone" means; however, Fishlegs was a smart one (unlike Snot) so he could be helpful. I always would spend time with he and Hiccup. The worst thing about him was that he was too scared of everything. I used to simulate what a rivalling tribe would do to him if he got captured, so that he could strengthen his will.

Anyway, I realized that Hiccup and I were a lot alike and told him. We were both natural leaders, heirs to the throne, and had liabilities in our father. He claimed that his father had not been eliminated and I said that he **could** be and I would handle that for him. What are brothers for, if not to kill each other's parents for them?

A last sound came and I, exasperatedly, asked Hiccup which of his friends it would be. It was none of them and, guess what? The Night Fury came out! [laughs] I was about to shoot it when Hiccup complained that he wanted to do the deed. It was not fair because I had both seen it first **and** brought the actual weapon. No ornate shield for me. Some stupid Terrible Terrors flew in my way and I have Astrid to blame for that. She was mad and said that we messed up her shot. [scoffs] As if **Terrible Terrors** are anywhere near as impressive as killing a Night Fury. Hello!

Annoyed, I asked if Hiccup had left **anyone **on Berk. Seemed as though he had not. We went to get that dragon and he told his friends to go back to their island. I was shooting some arrows in the Night Fury's general direction and told my brother that it was to lead him somewhere. That somewhere was to my soldiers. My whole armada actually.[laughs] Hiccup did not know that I had them waiting just in case I found one. He said that I was not being "sporting". Who cares? I was being smart! No glory in dying at its fangs and I wanted that skull as a hat. I would look so nice in that.

We had finally pushed the reptile to the edge of the island and its death was imminent. Hiccup started to complain again and I promised him that he could take a wing or something. That would do to prove he had had a part in the kill. Fair. Then, he said he would take the whole thing! He made some weird noise and the dragon went over to him.

I was more than a little shocked to see a saddle on its back. He said that on Berk, they **trained** dragons instead of killing them! He had lied to me! Both he and Stoick had tried to make me look stupid. What kind of friend would do that? He could have told me and taught me how to train dragons too. I mean, maybe I would have been mad that they had a dragon army, but my biggest concern was that they were lying and planned to attack my people. But, alas! He wanted to keep my in the dark and kill off my Berserkers when we least expected.

He said that they wanted to keep the peace-never want your impending victims to **know** their lives are about to end- and called me a fool! Even said that they had the dragons and could attack. See! That was what I was talking about! No way I was going to let him just fly out with that death machine and take out my troops, so I threw some bolas and caught the dragon's tail, wings, and mouth. Have to cover **all** the bases.

I went to end the dragon's life when Hiccup blocked me with his ornate shield. He is not very strong, though-that puny thing-and I kicked him out my way. I rose my sword again and he shot it away with his shield. Throwing some knives, I put him on the defensive and that stupid dragon hit me with its tail. Conveniently, it wacked me over to where my crossbow was. I shot at both the viking and dragon, telling Hiccup that he would have to fight me, eventually. He fired a rope out of his shield and it hit a tree. That seemed like bad aim at first, but I learned that it was his plan and the branch fell on me.

Of course, no mere branch can stop Dagur the Deranged! Flinging it to the wayside, I pinned the Berkian to the ground. The Night Fury had loosened his muzzle, by this time, and shot me with a plasma blast. When I had become oriented again, Hiccup was mounted on its back. In vain, I raised my sword and it got shot away. They forced me to flee to my ships or else be killed. On my ship, Herald said that he would kill Hiccup for his fabrication. I had to nip that in the bud, immediately. No one was going to kill Hiccup. **I** would best him by taking his precious dragon and killing his people. He would pay for ruining our alliance, trust me. He would pay.


	3. A View to a Skrill

Vorg had found my Skrill! I told the crew of his success and was so happy that I forgave his inability to retrieve said Skill. You see, the Skrill is the symbol of my people and quite a formidable beast. It can channel lightning and blast it out as its own. [sighs dreamily] Just makes you want one, right? I told the others how we would take our Skrill from Hiccup's pathetic hands and return it to its rightful place as a defender of Berserker Island.

We found Hiccup and his dragon riders-and my Skrill!- and attacked them. They dodged the boulders the we catapulted and left. Vorg thought that they were retreating. What an idiot! Anyone could tell that they were regrouping. I decided that between him not getting me the Skrill **and** being so imbecilic, he had to leave. I relieved him of duty and pushed him overboard. He wouldn't die nor would he be a liability. Ooh, my Skrill was magnificent. It had gone against Hiccup and his Night Fury, flawlessly in that fight. I knew that we could follow them and get my dragon back.

The group was tracked down and my men readied their bows. Vorg pointed Hiccup out to me. He wasn't doing a very good job of getting the Skrill and I figured that he would not be able to take it back with him. Ha! That's what he gets for trying to steal my Skrill! Vorg mentioned going back and trying again to find them. What was **with** him and that retreating yak dung? And to think that I was considering letting him stay on the boat. Nope. Not anymore. He said that the reason he was back was that he was a good swimmer. A dumb thing to say. Not as if I was unaware, though. I threw him over the side of the ship again and watched my poor Skrill being attacked, intently.

The Night Fury blasted one of Skrilly's blasts and it caused a giant explosion. Beautifully destructive. It blew Hiccup and his dragon onto my ship and I had to duck to avoid them. He "apologized" for messing up my deck and flew off. I was enraged and saw Vorg **again!** He was coming up the side and I shoved him away as I yelled after the runt and beast.

We went to Outcast Island and I shook Alvin's hand. Normally, alliances seem pointless to me. What can others do for me that **I** cannot? This time was different, though. Oh Treachy had caught my Skrill and restrained it for me. Not in an intelligent way, but anything was better than nothing. A lightning storm was in the sky and they had it out in the open. Fools![laughs] As I marvelled at its glory, some smelly, old man insulted it and tried to smite it with his cane. I blocked him with my ax and let him know that his sharp-ended stick would end up in his mouth, if he hit my Skrill with it. I told him how stupid it was that they did not have the dragon in water since it literally draws its power **from lightning!** He doubted me and I sidestepped to allow its blast to hit the jerk from Berk.

I relished the thought of the Skrill working for me and blasting anyone I pleased. What dreams are better? Kill joy Alvin had to come ruin it. He griped on about how "it wasn't my Skrill yet" yada yada. You get the point. I gave him an insincere smile and went on my way. We had to discuss plans anyway, so I thought we should get on with that. We sat at a long table with his Outcasts on my left and my Berserker on my right. He glared at me and I gave him a look. Not sure what it would have been classified as, but it was **a** look. Skepticism maybe? Let's move on.

He began talking about strategy. Which I **love** by the way. I had him go first and he blew it! He started with how **his** fleets would lead. Wrong already. **My** fleets and Skrill would go into Berk's training arena and take out Hiccup-I demonstrated this with one of my soldiers-while Alvin's teeny group of rejects went through their harbor. He didn't like that idea and said that he had to get Berk for himself first and then I'd get my Skrill. Even after I pressed the matter, he still didn't budge. I agreed to what he said and explained to my soldier that the reason we were working with him was that we needed our Skrill. Once we were through with him, we would kill him in one of many creative ways. The possibilities were endless!

My fun ideas were interrupted by someone smacking. I **hate** smacking! Can you be anymore annoying and impolite? That was another terrible thing about my father. I put by ax's blade to the smacker and he said that he was a Berserker poet. In case he **w****as** one of mine, I gave him the opportunity to redeem himself before I chopped off his legs. He made a poem that was far from the best that I've heard, but in it I went askrilling. Got to love that part. He got a pass because of that line and I had my men bring him some more food-with the instructions that he not smack again. My generousity and forgiveness only go so far.

The smelly, old Berkian viking began babbling about something and I left to go finish my plans. I wasn't going to let Al get Berk and betray me afterwards. [laughs] He thought that I wouldn't be able to figure out that was his plan. 'Tis better to be the betrayer than the betrayed. A little bit later, I went and got my Skrill and men while the Buffnut viking distracted the Outcasts. We set off to Berk, but they realized that we had tricked them and Alvin came to get the Skrill back.

He had the audacity to complain that I went against our deal! Last time I checked, killing my Berserkers and I wasn't part of the cobtract either. Such hypocrisy. I showed them **our** Skrill in all its glory and he jumped onto my ship. He was a strong fellow, I'll give him that. Al tried to slash me with his sword and it sent me flying a bit. Not too much or anything. I rebounded, quickly, and went to attack him. He might have gotten in another good hit that sent me into a pillar, but **I** got the next ones.

I did a combo of ramming into his stomach when he tried to bring down his weapon, kicked him, and brought my own weapon up to knock him away. All this happened as I told him that the Skrill was not his, but mine and the rest of my Berserkers'. I swung my blade and we tried to push the other back using our weapons. Alvin was too strong for that approach, so I headbutted him a few times. It pays to have sharp horns on your head. Next, I charged, hit him with my ax, and jump kicked him.

Alvin swung his sword and I dodged, though he did manage to knock away my weapon. With some more swinging, I maneuvered around the blade. He said I couldn't run forever and he was right. Jumping on his back to get to the other side, I took the reins for my Skrill and forced **him** to run.[laughs] He looked so funny trying to not get electrocuted! Like an idiot, he figured that the best place to hide from a Skrill would be in the water. You and I both know that that is just about the worst place, other than a metal mound or something. I had Skrilly blast the water and dead fish floated to the top.

Feeling merciful, I gave Alvin's right hand, Savage, and his other Outcasts the option of going with me or Alvin.[chuckles] Savage picked me. The others were more loyal and chose Alvin. Too bad. It would have been fun to have his whole team working for me, but I guess they preferred execution. Just as we were about to go find Hiccup again, he found us. Started talking about how we should settle our quarrel one on one, or two on two I suppose. Savage tried to convince me otherwise, but I was too upset. The odds sounded good with my Skrill and I going against Hiccup and his Night Fury.

We went off and shot blasts at the duo. They kept not getting hit like they should've and our battle raged on. They were barely even fighting. I had guessed it was due to them having accepted the concept of a tragic defeat. As I readied my Skrill for the last blow, I had not noticed that my foot was in a puddle. The electricity ran down and got me. The initial is not as bad as the second one, when you're trying to recover from the first. I was out cold.

Groggily, I awoke and saw my soldiers. We went back to our ships and one told me that they could not find Hiccup. I put a knife through a drawing I had made of his stupid dragon. Both the Skrill and Night Fury would be mine. I was sure of that. Hiccup would be able to do nothing more than watch, pitifully, as I used the Skrill and his pet to wipe Berk off the face of the earth.


	4. The Flight Stuff

Is baiting people great? Obviously![laughs] I had my men set up a new weapon and all we had to do was let the information slip around Johann. I can't stand that guy. He's such a weasel. That night, I saw my soldiers running after someone and Savage told me that they had spotted a dragon rider. A **girl** dragon rider. Capturing Astrid would be the best way to get that Night Fury. Hiccup would never let his little girlfriend be killed. He'd do whatever I commanded!

Next, more riders approached and I told my men that the essential shot was to be mine. Hiccup was so predictable. As soon as they were in range, we launched flaming arrows. "It's a trap!" Hiccup yelled. No. What? A trap you say? What gave it away?[laughs] Not always the sharpest knife, that one. However, same goes for my Berserkers. One fired the catapult at some random kid, taking him down. Couldn't tell you who he was. He was on another Monstrous Nightmare and an average flier. I didn't care about him, though. I wanted to shoot down **Hiccup**. Those nets were for him. Is that so hard to understand?

The riders attacked, but we still shot down Brother Hiccup. My men went to keep them still and I went over, preparing my sword to behead the unholy beast. I chuckled as I neared my victory. It all was snatched away from me as Snothat and little Snothat came and freed them! No fair! I had earned that kill! Well, they flew away and I was left to wallow in failure yet again. It was growing old really quickly. We had come **so** close! How did we lose them? Savage said something that diverted my attention from self-pity. "Execution". A beautiful word.[chuckles] Why not implement **that**? I raised my weapon again and chased the soldiers around some. Gotta hand it to Savage. That made me feel way better!


	5. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Knowing how to get the most out of people is an important skill in leading. For instance, if someone were smart enough to **listen** to a good idea, that would make him even smarter than the idea **haver**. That's what happened with Savage and I. He came up with a plan to plant some metal from a Smothering Smokebreath's nest in Johann's trading supplies. He'd give it to Berk and then all of their weapons-and basically anythigng of use-would be taken by the little pests![laughs] Brilliant!

We were coming up to Berk's harbor and I mentioned how great it all was going to be. Savage had to try to make it about himself and I taught him a lesson in sharing the glory. The focus in my mind was on Hiccup kissing my boot.

We were still approaching the island for some time. It was taking **so** long! Ugh! Bootkissing was long in the making and it just wouldn't finish! I guess that Savage tried to help and he kissed my boot. It's not the same, though, and was pretty disgusting. You're not supposed to do it happily. It should be morose and with hesitation.

When we **finally** were in range to attack Berk, something happened. I asked what it was and Savage said fog. I knewthat! I wanted to know what **caused** said fog. Sheesh! More of Odin's punishment came after us as my soldier told me that they could not make a clear shot because of the fog. And as if it couldn't get any worse, the riders dropped metal on us! I thought they were dropping surrender spoons at first. Those are common. I was wrong and the metal was to attract the fog-causing Smokebreaths.

Those pesky pests stripped us of every piece of metal they could find. My ships fell apart and Savage and I ended up on a piece of driftwood. He didn't deserve to be there with me, so I pushed him off. I swore, aloud, that Hiccup **would** kiss my boot and the stupid beasts took my helmet and one of my knee guards. Dumb things. Might have made a mental note to kill some later as I drifted some more.


	6. Cast Out

It had been a bit since my last run in with Hiccup and I was talking to my drawing of that Nightfury. Savage came in and called me "Dagur". He's not even one of my Berserkers. We are **not** on a first name basis. I'm "your Derangedness" to him. See? It sounds so natural to say! Anyway, he came to tell me that my theory of Dragon Root making dragons go crazy was right! That opened up so many options for taking down my frail foe.[laughs] We had to find something to do with it, though. Savage suggested that we spy on Berk and find the perfect time to plant it. It was so simple, that it was brilliant!

We watched as the dragons were put in the stalls. Wonderful![laughs] The root would mess them up before Hiccup and his flunkies even knew what the issue was. That night, Savage and one of my Berserkers put the root in front of the stables. We opened their bars while leaving and closing them in the arena. The fun was about to begin!

The other riders tried to distract their reptiles as Fishy attempted leaving with his Gronckle and the Dragon Root. Little did they know that we were there.[laughs] We closed the gates **just** as he was about to pass through! My Berserkers readied their bows and I told Hiccup that either he relinquish his Night Fury, or lose his friends. There was no other option. Stoick came and made one as he and the other Berkians attacked my men. Savage went to fight and was kicked away by Alvin! What was he doing alive?! He started helping Stoick and the rest of them. Everything was crumbling, quickly and Savage offered that we retreat. Our plan had failed again. I was **determined** that I wouldn't leave Berk worse off than I had come there. Spotting Stoick, I saw that he was on the ground in pain. Adjustments sometimes have to be made for strategies.

We apprehended him and I called down to Hiccup, telling him that we were leaving and if **any** dragom were spotted, they would be down one Stoick the Vast. I meant that too. No bluffers are allowed in my ranks. We left and tied him up, awaiting what Hiccup's decision would be.

The subsequent morning, I had Stoick's ropes tightened-never can be too sure-and brightened the mood by telling him that soon he'd either be free or dead. Flip a coin![laughs] His life was **entirely** in Hiccup's hands. Such a bad place for it to be.

In a couple of hours, Hiccup came with his reptilian, nocturnal rage. We attacked them and it went **right** under where I had put the cage to fall! It came down hard and I almost couldn't believe that after long last, that dragon was mine. I figured that the first thing to do would be to change his name. It's stupid and way too cutesy. [says, mockingly]"Toothless". Bleh! Hello! He has teeth! He even demonstrated such by snapping at me. Yet another thing we would have to change. He would learn to respect me or I'd go back to my original plans, i.e. skull hat.

I brought out my sword to discipline the beast and Hiccup protested. I had my vikings lock him up were his father was. They'd both be executed some time later. Hey, I said that by sundown we'd drown Stoick. I wasn't going to wait that long, so it was different. Thusly, making it so that I, technically, still kept true to my deal. Integrity.

I kept laughing in joy at my success. There were so many things we could do with a Night Fury. Since we never got that Skrill, **he** would be our new logo. He'd be on our shields, sails, all that. The price was beginning to concern me, but that was a time for glory and not frugality. Besides, burning Berk down was the first matter of business to take care of.

I started tossing some names around to see what stuck with the Night Fury. I offered Deathkiller, but he wasn't a fan. Don't, personally, mind if we both like his name. As long as "death" was still in it, of course. The naming process was cut short by a Whispering Death, Alvin, and Mildew popping up out of the blue.

More Whisperers came and the floor began to break apart. The ground underneath us caved in and my Berserkers and I fell with the Night Fury. Two tried to get him and failed. Must I do everything myself? I jumped on his back and stayed for a while, but the dumb thing knocked me off and swatted me with his tail. A Screaming Death came, shortly and it roared with the Whispering Death. Odd behavior if there was no relation. That was when I realized that it must have been looking for its mom. Plus, Hiccup wouldn't attract a Screaming Death without **some** reason.

We lassoed the smaller dragon and I told Hiccup that we both knew everyone would die, if I killed it. Bargaining was on my mind, but it seemed to have surprised him. What did he think I wanted?[laughs] Before my trade could work, that stupid Snothat flew by and blasted us. It was kind of cool too-which makes it even worse that it was against me!

In a final attempt, I charged with a spear to kill Hiccup and Snotlip. A hard object hit me in the face, disorienting me. Turned out that, said object, was Alvin. He had a grudge about what I had tried to do. Picking me up by my shirt, I began to feel fear rise inside of me. I **hate** when that happens. It's rare, obviously. Alvin meant business, though and there was no way to escape. Despite knowing it was futile, I called Hiccup for help. Didn't get any, but it was my last hope. Mentally, I prepared myself for whatever was to come.


	7. Dragon Eye of the Beholder

Three years had passed since we had been captured. My Berserkers had time to live out, but would, eventually, be freed. I, on the other hand, was imprisoned and sentenced to rot, indefinitely, and endure whatever the Outcasts thought I deserved. My hair had been cut/pulled out, leaving the remnants in a mowhawk style. A large scar ran over my right eye, near the temple, and all the way down my cheek to my jaw. Clothes were torn and the same ones that I had when I was put in there. What I would've given for a washroom and change. A beard was growing in, scraggily. It probably would have been fuller if I had been able to consume more than the nightly stale bread-that had eels constantly in it-and gotten some kind of sunlight. Same goes for my height. Technically average, I always imagined that I'd be taller.

The other prisoners would talk about me. One, in particular, would chuckle about how the Berserker chief was destined to stay in prison forever, or until Alvin needed more space and killed him. That inmate's voice was so annoying! If what he would say wasn't infuriating enough, his voice grated my ears every second of every day! I had, finally, coerced a guard into slipping me the key to my cell and he tossed it in while giving the others their stale bread.

**Again**, the irritating convict complained. Something about how that wasn't bread and I always got special treatment. By whose standpoint? Idiot Outcast. I offered him the item and when he reached, I yanked him into the bars, knocking him out cold.[laughs] It felt great! I opened the container and saw the key. Unlocking my cell, I started taking out the guards.

I put one guard in the Berserker choke hold and then knocked two guards' heads into each other. An Outcast called to set off the alarm. He should've been quiet. I hit him with a club that I'd taken from one of the other guards. More came and I clubbed them high and low, as my Berserkers cheered. Soon, the only guard that remained was the one that had given me the key. He made a note to mention that too. Unfortunately for him, that made him a traitor. Something that I abhor; however, he **did** help me, so I only punched him in the face and kicked him out of my way. I removed the wood that kept vikings without clearance out and saw one of trader Johann's ships. I commandeered it and went back to go free my people. We were out and there was a certain one-legged viking that would pay for causing us to have been in there.

I had found a map, that appeared to lead to ol' Johann's treasure, on the ship. All we would need to do is toss him overboard close enough to Berk, go to the location, and wait for my brother to come help us. Hiccup just can't resist adventure and his own curiousity would be his downfall. It worked and they went to a ship called The Reaper. He and Mr. Night Fury went under the deck to retrieve something and my men and I apprehended his band of miscreants. We locked them in dragon proof cages, then awaited Hiccup's return.

When Hiccup came back up, I greeted him. You know, he never visited me those three years. Not once. They were all growed up and I took the time to relish our reunion. Astrid couldn't keep her trap shut for too long and started explaining what happened. I had her shut up and said that Hiccup and I were having a moment. **He** claimed we weren't. Killjoy. Either way, my team was winning. A Berserker hit one of the twins in the stomach causing him to spit out some jewels. Actually, it was the girl. It's hard to tell with them and I keep forgetting that there even **is** another girl besides Astrid. I didn't care too much about her getting hit, but I would've preferred the guy to have been.

The other jewels had been loaded up on my ship and I had Hiccup hand me something he had behind his back. Have to hide things better, Brother. He did his usual Hiccuppy routine and tried to convince why I shouldn't take it. I took it anyway, obviously, and went to my ship. We set off and Hiccup followed. Even after three consecutive years, he was **still **predictable. We catapulted a boulder at him and he got all cocky saying that I missed. I never do that. Too late, he realized that I was aiming for The Reaper. That left him with two options: Save his friends or stop me.[laughs] Oh the good times were starting again!

He went the boring route and saved his friends. Yawn! We sailed away and I marvelled at the cylinder shaped object. I had no idea what it was, but it was teeming with wonder. Savage interrupted my amazement by asking me what it was. How would I know that? It was the first time I had ever seen it. Do I need to have **every** answer?! I went back to looking at it and then he began to interrupt me again. Hiccup and his dragon flew past and snatched it because Savage had distracted me!

The glory I had felt rushed away and two Berserkers fired arrows at them. They missed and I threw one viking overboard. The other one jumped, saving me some time. I was enraged, but there was a bright side. We still had **all** the gold and they didn't. [laughs] That was a win in my book even if a small one. We kept sailing to find somewhere to get supplies. After we were all equipted up, we'd wipe Hiccup's whole group out.


	8. Gone, Gustav, Gone

We were trying to find where Hiccup and the other riders' hangout was. We were close, but no yak leg. I stabbed the ship's side in frustration as Savage signaled me. They had shot down a rider! I hoped that it was Brother Hiccup, or, if not, the girl. It was neither. Some kid on a Monstrous Nightmare. He almost seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on how. I asked him who he was and he said Gustav. That was all he was willing to say, so I told my Berserkers to feed him to the pesky eels that were swimming in the water surrounding our ships.

That got some more out of him and he said he had information about the riders. I inquired about what kind and he told me he knew about the Dragon Eye. Pointing to my drawing, I realized that it was the object that Hiccup had taken from me. I had a meal prepared and let Gustav partake in it. He ate quite gauchely, but he was happy enough to open up. I told him my plan and he stated that it would probably fail. Clearly, that made me mad, but I wanted that Dragon Eye more than to prove a point, so I stopped Savage from killing him. He suggested that we send his dragon back with a note, saying that I was holding his hostage and would only release him if I was given the object.

Hiccup arrived with Gustav's dragon. The kid ran over to it all excited. A disgusting display of affection. Bleh! My Berserkers aimed their crossbows at Hiccup and Mr. Night Fury. I walked over and he had me stay as far away as possible. No trust, that guy. He didn't have too much to say, no caustic remarks or anything. He was **almost** making the ordeal boring. Hiccup wanted me to send over the kid, but I know when I have then advantage. I had him give me the Dragon Eye first and watched, in amusement, as Gustav told good ol' Hic that he was betraying him. I couldn't resist goading the situation further. Ooh, we were going to get so much gold with that Dragon Eye![laughs] The only downside to the whole **Gustav** thing, was the fact that he was squeamish. Takes out a lot of fun when I can't make Hiccup into a porcupine.[sighs]

Gustav and his the Monstrous Nightmare played while I divulged to Savage that I was going to feel bad about killing the little viking. He had a trickster's spirit, I'll give him that. We sailed to the location Gustav guided us to and docked. We stopped walking and he explained it was because he was impressed by my trust. I was showing my Berserkers right to **all** the treasure. What was I thinking?! They didn't need to know all that. All they needed to be aware of was how much I'd give them. How much was left/I kept didn't involve them.

I had them fall back, then Savage questioned me. And **that** is why they didn't need to know about all the treasure. I'm chief. They can't go around asking me questions and all that. It shows a lack of reverence. If I give an order, you follow that order. Gustav showed me how the Dragon Eye would light up whenever a dragon would put its flame near it and we entered the cavern. It tremored, violently, and it was disconcerting. Not a huge fan of giant caves threatening to crash down on me.

We walked **forever!** I asked if we were there **yet** and Gustav said we were close. That was good enough for me. I could find the treasure myself from that point and I figured that I'd snap the kid's neck. He did serve his purpose well, so there was no real reason to make him suffer for long. Sneaking up behind him, he flashed the Dragon Eye in **my** eyes. It caused all these little bright lights to scatter across my visions. Brat. The ground broke up again-that was really beginning to become an irritant. The lights faded away and I saw the Eye's dim light coming from behind some rocks.

I snuck by and scared the living yak dung out of him. [laughs] Hiccup was there, also apparently, with the Night Fury. He and Gustav had tricked me! I put things back on my terms and took the Dragon Eye, flinging Gustav to Hiccup's side. Hiccup and Toothy fired shots at me-that I, magnificently, dodged. They said that I had no options left, they were going to win. I couldn't let **that** happen, so I dropped the Dragon Eye in a crater made by the cave's crumbling. Gustav leapt after it and Hiccup dove after him. I laughed at the spectacle and ran back out to my Berserkers. Guess I'd have to find another way to get that thing.


	9. Have Dragon, Will Travel

We were still sailing around, trying to find Hiccup's hideout, when Savage approached me. He pointed out a dragon that had been circling above our ships for a little while. Neither of us had ever seen it before. It was all greyish-silver colored and spiny looking on its tail. Choosing the best course of action, I had my vikings shoot it down. They fired arrows and I had them wait **just** long enough, so that they could fire a chain at it. The chain got the beast's tail and another got its front leg as more Berserker ships came up.

I saw that there was a rider on its back and recognized her as someone whose village we massacred. She could have been helpful, seeing as how she trained her dragon and all. I wanted her dragged down. They fired some more and got her dragon's neck. Two chains followed and they strapped Heather to the reptile.[laughs] All that was left was to haul them on board!

In time to ruin the fun-like always-Hiccup showed up. Well, at least it felt more like a reunion. Seemed like they had met before. The Night Firy fired a plasma blast at the chains that held Heather's dragon in place. Did nothing! I know Hiccup likes to pop his nose in where it shouldn't be. Why would I make **non** dragonproof chains? Since he was there too, I figured we might as well get **four** prisoners. My Berserkers shot bolas at the pair and missed.[sighs]

The two maneuvered around and went near the bottom of the ships. When they came back up, they fired at the wenches. Apparently, those were **not** dragonproof. Why wouldn't we have good wenches to match the chains?! I shoved the idiot responsible into the hole caused by the dragon's blast.

Later in the day, more dragons were spotted. Snothat, Fishy, and the nuts were flying around, but too far out of range. For any of us, actually. It didn't make any sense. Why do all that hovering with no chance for firing? I kept hearing these thumps and splashes on board too. After the second one I heard, I picked up a chain and was about to see what the issue was. The stupid Gronckle hit the ship just before I could.

I readied the chain to lasso one of the dragons and felt as it was being pulled back. The momentum yanked me with it and my hands were tied behind my back. Were my own Berserkers betraying me? No, it was Astrid and Heather. [says mockingly]"Two axes are better than one" Whatever. Twelve ships are better than **all** of that. Of course, I forgot that they had dragons too. That evened it out a bit-especially considering my predicament.

Heather began telling her dragon to finish the job. Astrid tried to convice her to do a capture mission, but since I didn't do that for her parents, she wasn't willing to do that for me. I tried to stall and get her to think that she needed me alive, but she shoved some sack in my mouth. Her dragon's tail got all spiked up and it seemed like the end was near. For the first time in a **very** long time, I was happy to see Hiccup.

He landed and started talking to Heather, simultaneously, I started working on my ropes. He said something crazy: that Heather was my sister! She looked at me in askance and I shrugged. That couldn'thave been right. Right?! Sure I **had** a sister, but one thing led to another and..I kinda sent her adrift. In my defense, it made more sense then than it does now.

My ships came and I broke the restraints. I told my brother how he never disappoints and realized that maybe he really **was** my brother. Who knew anymore? I don't know if I was handling the news as well as I was trying to convince myself I was. It was because of me that Heather never got to learn how to be a Berserker. She was with another family and I killed them. I would never, knowingly, hurt my little sister, but **that** must've hurt worse than any attack could. She had no one, and that was my fault. I'd never wish that on anybody, let alone family.

I knew I had to make things right and offered her the chance to join me. She prepared herself to fight and a pit found its way into my stomach. I didn't want to fight her, but I wouldn't let her and riders take me captive either. There was no way I was **ever** going back to that Outcast prison. Instead of fighting me, she jumped over my head and got on her dragon. She flew away and I suggested the name "Heather the Unhinged". Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I got caught up in the moment and forgot that the others were there, so they flew away too.

Overrall, not a great job. I just felt empty the rest of the day. It was because of Hiccup that Heather wouldn't come with us. Some of me felt that wasn't the case, but more of me put **that** part into a choke hold and kept it there. Hiccup was to blame and after I took them all down, our Berserker family would resume once more. Just like it always should have.


	10. Team Astrid

A single ship can do a lot of damage, you know. Knock down buildings, kill vikings. It might not be the fall of a tribe or anything, but it can certainly be enough to cause some concern. That's **exactly** why I sent one out to Berk. While we were on the ships, twins came into my spyglass view and I knew my plan had worked. By targetting Berk, it messed with the riders' heads and made them sloppy. My Berserkers and I had already spotted them before and this was the finishing touch. Maybe I couldn't find Heather yet, but I'd find their base and that would be one thing marked off my to-do list.

I mentioned to Savage that he had doubted me and the plan **still** succeeded. He had to say that he didn't. Technically, no he didn't. But, come on. It's a saying, Savage! Loosen up! There were more important matters to tend to at the time, though. Like scouring the estimated area and finding that "Dragon's Edge". We started on that at once.

After some good searching, he found the base.[laughs] There were about a dozen ships with us! We attacked the riders, mercilessly. Hiccup and that Night Fury blasted one of my ships and one of my Berserkers alerted me to some more party guests arriving. I knocked him off the boat for a better look and saw Stoick and Astrid flying in.

They attacked more ships, but Stoick was brought down with a catapult-net. I was so proud of my vikings. We shot some bolas at Hiccup, but he kept avoiding them. So annoying, that guy. Astrid flew by us and her Deadly Nadder shot some spines. I blocked it with a shield and picked up a launcher. Said launcher shot out a chain that got the dragon by its leg. You'd think that it would be more supple.

Astrid skidded down the chain and tried to fight me. I, easily, deflected her angry attacks and my Berserkers forced her arms behind her.[laughs] Astrid's not as good as she thinks she is! I didn't need the other, though, since I could've just killed her, myself, but a victory is a victory. I reeled my ax back and prepared to make at least two Astrids.

A blast stopped me. It was that stupid Gustav kid that I had tried to kill earlier. Too bad I didn't.[grumbles] More dragon riders came up and attacked. Those slimy, little cheaters. I have a certain amount of Berserkers and they have a certain amount of dragon riders. It's only fair that our war stay between those **exact** vikings. You can't bring in help. Even the old, medicine lady had a dragon! **Seriously?!**

Savage insisted that we retreat and I knew that we had to. We were..outmatched, sadly. I wasn't going to let them destroy anymore of our possessions, so with a departing yell at Hiccup, we left. [yells in frustration] I was so mad! Although, this did give me an idea. If Hiccup was going to have more vikings to help him, I would have the same.


	11. Night of the Hunters

Have you heard of the Dragon Hunters? I found them and we joined up to find a "King of Dragons". Supposedly, whoever controlled it, controlled **every** dragon. Imagine that power! The riders had attacked the hunters, thinking that they had the upper hand. For some reason, Hiccup and them always swear they know more than other people. Rykie knew that Gronckles were immune to Dragon Root, just like I did. Their plan was just hoping their enemies were idiots! Little tip: never do that.

I was elated by this time. Astrid, Fishlegs, and the twins had been captured and more importantly, I had my sister on my side. I boasted over the fact that Heather and they had been friends and then she was working with me. The betrayal. I loved it! That was my sister, all right![laughs]

The dragons had been locked up and were being prepared for their fates. Ryker told the riders that **their** dragons were **our** dragons. I think he said "my", but they'd belong to Heather and I soon enough. I let the vikings know that their behavior would affect how their reptilian flying machines were treated. Be good, they might live longer, be bad and they might've as well kissed those scaly beasts goodbye. It was all up to them!

We went past the Gronckle fist and Fishy was having a fit. Hey, Gronckle Iron's hard to come by and it's useful. Should've thought about that before he got attached to it. Next, was the Deadly Nadder. We were using its spines for spear tips-a good idea that I have to credit to Ryker. Astrid was upset, of course. Finally, we got to the Hideous Zippleback. The funny part was that the twins were happy at first. They thought we were just feeding and loving on the dumb thing. Wrong![laughs] Zippleback skin-or, more precisely, leather **from** its skin-is extremely valuable. You can nake boots out of it and everything! I've always wanted a pair of those, but never even got any for Snoggletog.

The riders were loaded back into their cells and tried to escape. [sarcastically] Big surprise there! I **told **the hunters that they were relentless. I tried reasoning with Rykerman about, you know, **listening** to me! He knows dragons and I know dragon riders. What a teamup that would be. That was the whole point of me joining them in the first place. I suggested that we throw one of the riders overboard. Hiccup would be crushed and the others would be so lost and discombobulated. It was brilliant! I'd learned the hard way that it's just easier to kill the riders than try to keep them around.

Heather opposed me and said that Viggo might want them alive. Ryker liked the idea and said Heather got all the brains between us. He gave me a hard pat on the shoulder to emphasize and I laughed with him-totally a fake one, though. I, immediately, stopped as soon as he left and asked Heather what the heck that was about. We were a duo. Can't contradict each other.

She explained that she was trying to help cover me in case something went awry. If something did, **Rykie** would be at fault and not me. So, yeah. I was cool with that. Ooh, she was diabolical. And all these years we were apart. Think of all the conquering we could have been doing!

A bit before an hour later, we saw Hiccup and Snothat flying. I was amazed by the way they were coming straight in. It was a suicide run for their friends! I was completely geeked out. It seemed so unHiccup-like, but deserved some respect. We focused our ammo at the Night Fury and hit him. I waited, excitedly, for them to plummet into the water. Much to my chagrin, they didn't. Looking through my spyglass, I saw that they were wearing some sort of dragon armor.

The armor lasted not that long and some fell off when they did a barrel roll. I alerted the hunters to that and they fired their dragon root arrows. We **would** have taken them down if Astrid hadn't intervened. Ugh! So close! The other riders had escaped and freed their dragons. A brawl started and-you know what? I'm not sure why Heather's dragon didn't help out. Dragon power on our side would've been welcomed. Either way, the riders flew off and Ryker had the nerve to "guess that [he] underestimated them". That's why I was there! I told him that from the start. I knew we should've just killed one of them. The promise of future power was strong, though. Otherwise, that would have been a very short-lived alliance.


	12. The Zippleback Experience

There are great benefits to knowing where someone lives. Especially if they make absolutely no efforts to prevent you from showing up! Heather and her dragon were staking out some islands for us to search later while Ryker and I sent some hunters on Dragon's Edge to find-and capture-Hiccup. It took some time, but they got him.

The hunters brought him up to our ships with a bag over his head and guess what? He already was being snarky! We literally **just** captured him and he was all like[mockingly] "this plan is terrible blah blah blah". You're a prisoner, aren't you? Yes? Then shut up! I told him how preposterous it was that they didn't even have a watchtower. The entire north side was unguared. Send us an invitation why don't you? Might as well.

We had planned on taking the dragon information out of his brain and going to all the islands that the Dragon Eye had shown him. That way, we'd be able to get closer to the King of Dragons **and** could take out a formidable foe. A twofer! Hiccup asked what would happen if he didn't tell us everything. I don't get why he did. What about that situation made it seem like there was a nice alternative?

Ryker drew his sword and stated how he hoped Hiccup wouldn't tell us, so that he could kill him. Yeah, yeah, killing is fun and all, but it's even more fun when you are winning. Can't win if we don't know what we're doing;however, seeing as how much Rykie liked listening to people, he probably figured the outcome would be the same whether Hiccup gave us every detail or not.[sighs]

Before my brother could say any other, oddly idiotic, statement, gas surrounded our ships. The twins' Zippleback landed on the ship and it started attacking the hunters. It freed Hiccup and he actually wasn't doing a bad job fighting, I'll admit. Ryker got annoyed and whacked him aside. The dragon helped Hiccup again. Of course, had Ryker brought his sword down **faster**, there wouldn't have been time for the dragon to do any defending. [sarcastically] But hey, he's a "hunter" and they're so good at what they do.

Seeing as how the hunters were utterly sucking at their jobs, I went to get a ballista. The stupid Zippleback tried to blow me up, when I brought it over, and they all flew away. Ryker's foot got caught in some rope and he ended up dangling from the top of the ship.[chuckles] That was the highlight of my day, for sure. While flying, Hiccup was knocked into his Night Fury and everyone fell to the water. Brother managed to mount his dragon in time, but we netted the Zippleback. It fell into the water and we could haul it in. Ooh, I just **knew** those were going to be some good boots![laughs]

That would have been too much like right and the twins got on their dragon's back, flying to safety. Don't you just hate that? The riders attacked us and since Ryker was a bit..tied up at the time[laughs, I told the hunters to start a retreat. I'm pretty sure I was on fire-no, not in a good way-and a wood board fell on my head. At least, that's what it felt like when I got up. We'd have to do better next time. The upside was that we still knew where they lived and they, apparently, had no intentions on leaving. All these things were great news for us.


	13. Edge of Disaster

So Rykie had **finally **decided to listen to one of my plans. Took long enough. This brilliant plan was to have some wild dragons attack Hiccup's pesky friend Johann. The little, kind-hearted vikings would feel like they had to help him and they'd head off of Dragon's Edge. After they did that, we would come in and take over the place.[laughs]

Two hunters, that had been sent out, came back with the girl twin. Didn't exactly help my cause on the fact that I know the riders and Ryker just **had** to mention that. My sister defended me, though. That was sweet of her. We were really getting along well! She suggested that we make a new plan, but pig-headed Ryker was determined not to change tactics. We'd just deal with all the riders.

The twin was lying and trying to tell us that if we did attack, we'd be going into a suicide mission. They don't even kill anyone. What would kill us? Boredom? Heather thought that she was telling the truth.[sighs] She still had so much to learn about the riders. And to think that she was friends with them. Gotta pick up more things faster, Sis. Ryker said that we would head out, slowly, and destroy everything except the Dragon Eye.

We tossed the twin onto our boat and headed off. Savage told me that he didn't understand something. No real news there. He was talking about how Ryker was taking charge and how that's what **I **do. He wasn't wrong, but he needed to know how to use people. The hunters had loads of experience with all sorts of dragons. I didn't. We needed them to help us get to the King of Dragons and after we did that, we could kill them all in the most horrific ways.[laughs] Ooh, I'm **still** imagining some options!

The stupid twin told me that we had the worst plan she'd ever heard. Considering who her leader is, I know for a **fact** that she was lying. I was confused, though about her still being there. It made no sense that the riders didn't care about the trader getting eaten alive. Seemed so unlike them. We continued on and waited a while. Ryker was sniffing around and saying that he smelled air and death. Okay, Rykie. Don't breathe it in too much or anything. Weirdo.

That night, Savage told us that the hunters had sustained some injuries and a few deserted us. The traitorous cowards! My Berserkers would never just leave me to fight a battle alone. I asked who they were- don't want particularly helpful hunters gone. None of them were, luckily. Ryker caught an attitude when I said some guy, a Larz number 2, was also expendable. That was, according to him, his cousin. Well, sheesh! I didn't even know they were related and it wasn't like I said I was going to kill the viking. Although, that didn't help my opinion if the hunters any. Not only do teammates abandon each other, but family members too?

I questioned if that was the way of the hunters-to just leave when things get hairy. I already disliked Ryker enough without having to worry about him just up and leaving in the middle of a battle. **Again**, he got upset, so I backed off of the topic. Since the riders were doing such a good job of fending us off, we needed a better plan than his "Destroy everything in your way" idea. I was about to suggest something when he choked me!

He didn't want to know what the hunters and I would be doing to get the Dragon Eye and he didn't just try to ignore the idea, he actually had to gaul to grab me by the throat. He said he didn't care what we did. Then why are you so mad, Rykie?! If I don't care-though in this situation I totally **would** have-I brush it off. I don't do all that. [grunts] Man, I hated that guy. I didn't have to take that kind of treatment. The only issue was, maybe I did if I wanted that Dragon Eye. Before I could decipher whether I did or didn't, he was already gone. Stupid Ryker.

If I weren't thinking about enough things, the girl twin had to start squawking. Something about a trap. There was, obviously, no trap. She was so annoying! I requested that someone shut her up and Heather had her dragon shoot a spine at her head. Much better!

Astrid was flying on her Deadly Nadder and the hunters and I took cover in the trees. She couldn't get the spines past the brush so we were in the clear! I spotted some figures and had the hunters fire at them. They were milliseconds away from being pin cushions! Those figures were, as we discovered, not riders, though, and they emitted an odor. I knew that smell, but couldn't put my finger on what it was. I ended up remembering that it was Zippleback gas, but was it too late to stop the hunters from firing their **flaming** arrows. I thought they were supposed to know dragons, anyway. How come they didn't recognize the smell too?

We came back to the others all smoky and singed. Ryker thought that it was the Night Fury and proclaimed that he would wear it like a hat. I nipped that in the butt, immediately. That Night Fury was **mine**! I had already called dibs on wearing its skull as a hat, so he'd have to find a different accessory.[huffs] Besides, it wasn't even the Night Fury. That made me wonder where Hiccup, Fishy, and Snothat were. Ryker was just **not** getting that it was strange we hadn't seen them. That's probably why he was mad about me having a plan, he knew that I'm smarter and a better strategist.

We attacked more and the boy twin went after some hunters. Astrid was so distracted by him that neither she **nor** her dragon noticed me and I tackled her off the Nadder[cackles]. She knocked me off of her and we drew our axes. I charged and planned on chopping off her head, but Astrid went the sneaky way and did a roll-kick combo. We ended up with her ax at my throat. Why was everyone targeting my throat that day?

Before the hunters could gain any leverage over the riders, **more **riders flew in led by Hiccup. It was so dramatic. Why did everything have to be a spectacle with him? Enmity was the main emotion that I had for the guy. I guess, me saying that offended Astrid and she punched me. The riders were winning again and I spotted Heather on her dragon. [sarcastically] Some help **that** thing had been. I called over to her and she swooped and got me.

We, unfortunately, picked up Ryker too.[sighs] One day, it would just be Heather, the Berserkers, and I. No Ryker or his mystery brother. That would be the day.


	14. A Time To Skrill

Fate and luck are some interesting things. Sometimes you think something is gone forever and then **bam**! it's right there being handed to you on a silver platter.[laughs] That's what happened to me once. We had a hunter on lookout and he spotted a "storm". I knew better than that and took a closer look. Had to get them to hold on before the idiots sailed as far away from it as possible. Rykie was all annoyed that I actually spoke. [says stuffily]"What now, Dagur?" he asked. Remember this, if I have **anything** to say, you better listen to it, gratefully. I was too ecstatic over what I saw to pay him too much attention, though.

There was a storm, sure, but the most lethal part wasn't the weather. Oh no it wasn't. That place was reserved for a Skrill. **My** Skrill. I recognized the lightning formations and told the hunters. As usual, Ryker was just concerned about the monetary aspect of life. He called it rare and valuable [sighs] It must be sad to have aspirations so insignificant. Having a Skrill isn't about money. It's about having a dragon, that can shoot lightning at any targets you want, at your command. I'd get the King of Dragons-which is cool-but there's certain connection that my people have to the Skrill that just makes it seem more special.

Ryker asked if I had seen it before[laughs] Insult me, why don't you? Rykerman, I've **owned** it! After everything that had happened, my Skrilly was back. A hunter hauled up a catapult. I came this close to making the viking into shark bait. No one was going to hurt my baby! Rykes finally admitted that I know what I'm talking about and backed off to let me handle the situation. It only took a few pitiful failures for him to realize that.

I was watching as the dragon got closer and something knocked me back. A saw a black dragon flying up towards the clouds. Hiccup and his Night Fury were there and they had led my Skrill right to me! I couldn't figure out why. Maybe early or belated birthday gift-I was almost certain it wasn't my birthday. Never paid much attention to that day, honestly. Whether Hiccup was being nice or not, I couldn't have cared less. I told the archers to hold off so that they didn't spook the Skrill. Don't want it going into the clouds for cover and ammo. It flew closer and they fired their arrows, with one hitting it square in the tail! [laughs]

As it turned out, Hiccup was not trying to be a good brother and he started coming back to retrieve my little Skrilly from the water. We netted the dragon and began to haul him in. **Just** as Hiccup thought he would cut the rope, freeing it, an arrow hit his sword and it fell into the seas. He flew away in defeat and we relished in our victory. He had given me the perfect weapon! Ryker said that the Skrill would either be that or a good hide to sell. [sharply inhales] I let that one slide since I was so happy too.

It's always fun when someone is **so** predictable that you just know what they'll do before they even do. It's a bad combination when Hiccup won't change his plans for anything **and** he has the loudest rescue mission ever. Ever heard of stealth, brother? I guess not. I had told Ryker that they'd be back and again, he actually listened. We captured the dragons and their riders as I taunted Hiccup. Rykie was focused on how many new dragons we had. Boring! We still had the Skrill-that's the fun part!-and there was nothing he could do about it. Or, at least, that's what I thought. The problem was when they missed some of my instructions. I said to lock Hiccup up and they took too long.

The rider tackled some hunters and had his dragon knock open my Skrill's cage. The dragon wasn't too happy about being locked up and he did this new lightingy thing and fired more powerful blasts than I had seen him do before. It was so impressive, but unfortunate, considering that **we** were the targets. Hiccup and the others took the dragon and put him somewhere. Don't know where, but I know it's a less wonderful place than in my ownership.


	15. Maces and Talons

I have to say that I think one of the most annoying things ever-alongside smacking-is when **you** know someone and try to let another person in on how they operate, but said viking is too arrogant to listen. The dragon riders were attacking us and winning **again**. I told Ryker not to underestimate them and he just kept right on doing that. Hiccup was predictable. It's really not that hard to figure out what his next move will be and Ryker **still** couldn't!

Heather was up in the sky, with her Razorwhip, doing her part. She fired a blast at Snothat, making him fall to the water with the girliest scream I've ever heard.[laughs] Nimrods one and two caught him and one of them fell off, only to be saved by the Monstrous Nightmare. Now, if we could only time it so that they **all** fell off at the same time, that might've left, at least, alone to drown. That didn't happen, although we **were** able to get the Nightmare in a net. Before the slowpokes hauled it in, the Zippleback exploded us.

Those riders left, but Astrid was still battling off against my sis. Her Nadder shot a spine that hit the Razorwhip in her tail and they fell. Pretty soft of it to get taken down by one puny strike. When Heather was making sure her fragile dragon was okay, Ryker went over to her and started saying how she was suspicious. She stood her ground and the jerk drew his sword. I came up from behind him and grabbed his arm, telling him to calm down. I swear, that guy's temper fluctuates more than **mine.** He sort of laughed that I, of all people, was telling him not to do anything crazy, so I put it in a way that he could comprehend, compeletely.

Rykie was assured that I'd kill him if he ever even touched **one** **hair** on Heather's head. The fun part is that what I said I would do is actually one of the ways to kill him that I had contemplated doing after we took the Dragon Eye[laughs]. He put his weapon back-he didn't want a fight he knew he couldn't win. Even if I had gone down, he'd have gone first. A hunter came up and told us that Viggo was waiting. Ryker clammed up at the very **sound** of his little brother's name! So sad.

Heather asked me what I knew about Viggo and I said they had told me that Viggo was svelte and, supposedly, really smart. So much so that they all thought he was even more clever than I was. I, highly, doubted that. There would have to be a **lot** of evidence to support that for me to believe it. No one related to Rykie could be too intelligent, right? The last thing my sister wanted to know was if Ryker ever spoke about Viggo. Which he did not. He was too scared of him to ever mention him without looking as white as the Screaming Death.

Family rifts were sad, but could end in beauty too. I thought of how that happened with Heather and I. It was so great that we were both there and working together! Heather had an odd look in her eyes and I couldn't help, but wonder if Ryker had been correct. There had been a lot of little things that were peculiar. Her **not** wanting to kill any of the riders, to name one. I questioned what she was doing up in the sky for so long. It doesn't take a century just to get knocked down to the ground. Heather looked like she was going to have a panic attack, so I said that I was kidding and that we should go meet that Viggo Grimborn. I didn't really think that she was working with the riders, but there was always a possibility. Can't be too trusting.

The hunters prepared everything so that we could meet up with Ryker's bro and it took forever! It was actually **night** by the time we got there.[sarcastically] Good to know this expert dragon hunter and salesman doesn't have a good sense of time. There was a cool landscape design as we walked to the tent. We saw the feared viking and the hunters were right. He wasn't the smallest-that award go to Hiccup-but he was far from what I expected. As soon as we entered, he started to, pretentiously, ramble on about good and evil, some game called Maces and Talons, and how his grandfather used to beat him at it. Yawn!

I shot Heather a look because the guy wasn't in context at all. What did we care about his point of view on morals or what his other hobbies were? Vuggo hugged his brother and a hunter was pushed into the tent because, I guess, he had stolen some supplies to buy food. Don't flunkies get provided meals normally? I never let my Berserkers go hungry. The guy pleaded for his life and it appeared as though Viggo spared him. I had my doubts. The head hunter[chuckles] concluded our meeting, but wanted Heather to stay behind. I gave him a quizzical look and, hesitantly, left. That was my baby sister. I didn't feel comfortable just leaving her alone with random guys. I figured that she'd tell me if anything happened and then I'd just kill off the brothers sooner than I had anticipated.

Our ships found the riders and I told the hunters to fire on my signal. We couldn't afford for them to lose their sights on them again. Despite how **horribly** outnumbered Hiccup was, he still had his team charge. Gotta add persistence to his list of traits. Ryker said that his unrelentingness would be his downfall and we fired more shots. Hiccup introduced us to something called a Flightmare. Never heard of it. The riders came close and hit the decks and a few hunters with some kind of goop. Ryker laughed-yes, he apparently has a sense of humor-at how weak the attack was. He, jokingly, said that we surrendered. [laughs] That was a pretty good one.

Whatever that icky sick stuff was, it was cool and really shiny. I liked it. The Flightmare landed on the deck and the hunters froze. I yelled at them to get back to work and shoot somebody. We had vikings to kill! That was no time to relax. Ryker said that the dragon's blast paralyzes its victims. Of course, he knew that, but not that the shiny goop attracted it. You can't be choosey about whether you know about dragons or not, Ryker!

The dragon blasted at us more and the hunters threw a net over its back. What, were we providing dragon blankets? Muzzle it! **That's** where the issue was! Maybe **I'm** dragon professional-at least in comparison. Heather saw us and flew down, right into a net. I wanted to be happy that we got the dragon, but I felt heartbroken that she had been a double agent. An emptiness came over me as I saw her being pushed to the holding cells.

I led Heather to her cage, the next day. I told her that it should be good enough to hold her until the whole dragon fiasco was behind us. Maybe after we killed Hiccup, she would come to her senses. She went on about our family history and how loyal Berserkers were. Well, four fingers pointing back at you, Heather. You were a double agent that betrayed me! Everyone always wants to place blame. She asked[mockingly] how I could ignore all that. Easily. You'd be surprised how good it feels to let idiotic ideologies come in one side and out the next. Heather said that I was too smart to ignore anything. Yes, it sounded as stupid to me too. Intellect has nothing to do with ignoring something or someone.

I inquired as to where all her lovey dovey family values were when she tried to kill me. I don't forget things so quickly. She came up with a good point that neither of us knew we were family yet. She made a bad point too, though, about how I, basically deserved to die due to destroying her village. I asked if she still were upset about that and she hesitated. At least be smart enough to lie and say no, not at all! I figured she still hated me and I shoved her in the cell.

She seemed hurt that I didn't trust her. How could I? Even looking beyond what happened, there was only one person that I trusted and I asked if she could guess who. She, possibly, did or was just starting up her begging again. The answer was me. I trust Dagur with my life. He'd never go against what I want and betray me. Always on my side, that Berserker. Heather said that since she was my sister, she would do anything for me. Being unloyal was included in that, I wager. There **was** something that I wanted her to do, though. Shut up! Her pitiful pleading was putting our family name to shame. If I never begged during my time in prison, she could've stood not to there.

Viggo, I learned, is a viking that enjoys playing games as opposed to just going out and completing business. He wanted to play Maces and Talons with me, his hunters being the pieces. He's an odd one. Condescending too. You can tell he's Ryker's brother. Viggo told me to think and that he was sure there was a brain underneath my muscles and tattoos. No need for jealousy, Vigs. [poses, slightly] It's unbecoming. I assured that I **was** thinking-I always do-and moved my longship players over to his hunter ship. This forced him to relocate some hunters and I captured them all, imprisoning them in Berserker prison for tortures.

Viggo only had one player left, but I hadn't noticed that he had a weapon to my viking king's head. Viggo won. In my defense, I don't sacrifice my people, so if I lose my vikings, that's a lose to me. He told me that **no one** was beyond being expendable. That was less than an ego booster.

The younger Grimborn brother had set up some large dragons to fire blasts at the riders, blocking their path in. I mentioned that there was a rumor about the dragons having been freed. Viggo asked if I were sure. Yeah. Pretty sure that the free-flying dragons were a good indicator. He inquired about me doing what he said to do with Heather. Or the **prisoner**, according to him. I told him that I did, but there were some ideas I had that could have helped us. Viggo-just like his brother-hates hearing anyone else's ideas and he told me not to think. Just to follow his orders and even asked if I could do that! **Whoo! **I had to work hard not to just go up and kill him after that.

Ryker came out of the tent and I reassured with him that **he** was the big brother. He confirmed it and I asked if he ever wanted to kick the living yak dung out of him. Ryker said that he did want to and, easily, could, but didn't. I asked why. Not, sarcastically, actually. I, genuinely, didn't understand why someone would take the kind of treatment that Viggo dished out. Ryker said that he did because Viggo was his brother and that was important. Also, threatened me not to forget that. Those two could make you turn against your right hand viking. He had a point, though. Family was important. Even if they did something stupid and you might never see them again because they hated you.

The Grimborns wanted me to go with two hunters to make sure Heather was imprisoned. Not the smartest part of their plan. I found a cave that let out to where the ships were and led the three through there. I gestured for Heather to go forward and the hunters followed. They realized that Viggo had ordered a different place and I slammed their heads together. I didn't care what Viggo wanted or had to say. I glared at my treacherous sister and she pleaded with me not to kill her. I raised my weapon over my head and brought it down, freeing her from her shackles. Listening to a whistle, her dragon came over and the two embraced. I started to go, but stopped to look at my sister for what seemed like could be the last time. With that, I walked away.


	16. Enemy of my Enemy

It had been some months since the ordeal with Viggo and a lot can change in that time. I was stranded on an uninhabited island and taking a stroll when I heard some voices. There were hunters on the land who were searching for someone. I spotted Hiccup and decided to help him out. His dragon wasn't around him, though. That was odd. Two huntes started chasing him and one was gaining on him, quickly. I knocked him out and Hiccup stopped to see what happened.[sighs] You never look behind you when you're running. It slows you down and that's the **last** thing he needed.

While distracted by the unconscious hunter, another one readied himself to get Hiccup. I got that one too and started to haul him away. That way, it would be a longer search for whenever he came to. Hiccup started to run again and then took a break. Was there a quota so that he **had **to stop every few seconds?! [clears throat] He seemed out of sorts without the Night Fury and wasn't even paying attention to all the footprints he was leaving behind. Nothing quite like setting out a personally made map for your chasers to follow. I found a plant and used it to sweep away the evidence.

Hiccup was really easy to follow-and, apparently, the hunters thought so too. Three of them heard his dragon and went to the [sarcastically] very inconspicuous brush covering a cave. There was a brief quarrel and I took them out. It feels so good to fight people! It had been too long since my last battle and I was glad to have the opportunity again. I moved the greenery aside and addressed Hiccup. [laughs] He had a rock in his hand and was in a defensive position. Yes, **that's** the way to protect yourselves. A pebble.

The Night Fur-eh, Toothless let out a pitiful roar to defend Hiccup. Poor little guy. I figured that he must've been shot by an arrow while flying. Hiccup charged at me with his rock[giggles] Sorry, it's just too hard to take that seriously. I tried to tell him that I didn't want to fight him, but he wouldn't listen. He was so slow that not only was I able to dodge his "attacks" without trying, I also put him in a mild choke hold. It didn't actually **choke** him per say, but it did incapacitate him so that I could toss him over to the bodies outside. He was confused that I had knocked them out for him, but they wouldn't stay out forever, so that wasn't the time for questions. Hiccupy or otherwise.

We began to move Toothless out of his terrible hideout to mine. I encouraged him to keep going and Hiccup said I didn't have to. He's **your** dragon, Hiccup. Would've thought that you'd want him to be supported, but okay. Toothless looked at me and then at his rider. I told them that they didn't have to worry about me killing them or anything. Why would I wait so long to do it, if I had planned on it earlier? Hiccup still wasn't convinced and stated that I was crafty. I like that word. It suits me. I thanked him for the compliment and he called me weird. Well, **that's **not a compliment, but I couldn't blame him for feeling that way. There was a trap up ahead of us and I threw a knife into it, setting it off so that no one would step in it. Hiccup yelped as it flew past his head. Pretty sure he thought I was about to kill him. Hesitantly, he thanked me and we kept going. I kind of got the short end of the club with it because dragons are heavier than they look and I was behind Toothless, pushing him. Hiccup just had to hold up the dragon's head.

I tried to get the Berkian to help me out with transporting Toothless. Provide emotional support, maybe? I don't know. When we were almost at the location, I had them stop so I could check to make sure there were no hunters nearby. The coast was clear and the two came up. There was a beautiful waterfall and Hiccup assumed that I had brought them all the way up just to throw them off of it. I explained that it wasn't a trap and attempted to get him to look. He kept talking instead of looking and I lost my temper for a second. I asked again, politely, and promised that I wouldn't even move. See? There no was no way I could possibly fling them off the side. He finally looked, seeing my hideout. By the time anyone would find it, a plan to get rid of them could have been already completed. It was the perfect space!

We switched spots and I held Toothless's head. Still it was, technically, harder than what the other viking had to do because I had to walk backwards up the cliff. Hiccup's foot slid a bit and I warned him that the rocks were slick, but he fell anyway. I caught him by his hand and a slight problem arose. It wasn't that he was heavy, but a part of me would have loved to see Hiccup fall to his, untimely, demise. Fighting that terrible part and gravity made it hard to pull him back up. I needed Toothless to help me and together, we brought him back up to the landing. I tried not to think of what had gone on in my mind and apologized to Hiccup for not warning him sooner. In hindsight, though, he probably should have figured that a cliff could be dangerous.

We went into the cave and I started a fire for some light. As I grabbed my water bucket and cloth for Toothless, Hiccup noticed my drawing. Over time, I had drawn Heather's dragon. I wouldn't consider myself an artist or anything, but I like to draw sometimes. What better time to do it? I had a lot of time on my hands and needed to keep my mind sharp. Remembering that I had promised Hiccup some answers, I started. My expendability had been made clear by Viggo, during my time as a dragon hunter. Ugh that Viggo! Again, I started to feel myself lose control as I imagined killing the viking. A deep breath calmed me down and I asked if Hiccup ever tried it. It was cathartic and, honestly, helped me a **lot** while I was stuck there. I divulged that before I studied meditation, I thought that the only deep breaths were the last ones.[chuckles]

I inquired about Heather and her dragon-whose name I had, sadly, gotten wrong. It's Windshear, not Windshower. Hiccup corrected me and said that she was doing fine. I let him know that after I learned that about the hunters, I had to leave. I couldn't stay there and just wait to be left to die. Besides, after I freed Heather, they probably would have tried to kill me anyway and I didn't have the resources to win against them at that time. Savage was somewhere and I couldn't find him, so I took a ship and headed out alone. A bad storm hit and ruined the vessel, causing me to drift at sea for a while. I, nearly, died, but washed up on that shore. The trees made terrible boats and rafts, they kept sinking everytime I would get far away enough to **really** not want to swim back. This stranded me on the island.

It was almost comical how a near death experience and all that solitude really helped your mind, body, and spirit. I suggested that Hiccup try it sometimes-maybe he shouldn't. The near death experience part might not be best. Hiccup laughed at me and I didn't get what was funny about that. Your emotional and spiritual states are nothing to joke about. He called me crazy. I can't **stand** when people say that! [breathes, deeply] Just to disprove my point, I almost lost my cool with him. It was, surprisingly, difficult to stay calm. I told him that I understood why would would feel that way and he questioned why he should ever trust me. He shouldn't have. I had done so many terrible things that I wouldn't have trusted me either. But the fact was this, I knew that island like the back of my ax and he didn't. Whether he wanted to believe me or not, he **needed** me.

I was still making sure Toothless was all right. Doing stuff like applying the wet cloth to his forehead and propping up his head. He looked awful and Hiccup offered that maybe Night Furies respond differently to dragon root. Those arrows always upset me. Only a coward needs a discombobulated dragon in order to take it down. Cheaters. Smackers and cheaters are the worsts. I had seen Ryker and the hunters make an antidote and memorized the recipe. It must've been Odin telling me that I'd need it later because I never thought that I would **want** a dragon at full capacity. Hiccup wasn't sure about going out alone with me, but it was either that or let Toothless power through the toxins. I tossed Hiccup an ax to use against the hunters. They were still out there and would be waiting to find us.

I found a little flower and told Hiccup that if he found one that looked darker, that was Bitterweed. He asked me again why I switched sides and I repeated myself. It was pretty simple. When you only have to worry about yourself, everything is easy. If something happens, who cares? Just you. No one else does. But, when you have someone to look out for, you have to be careful and things change. I was referring to Heather. She's blood, so I told Hiccup that meant she was even closer than we were. We weren't **real** brothers, after all. I gave him a wink and spotted the Bitterweed. Before I could grab it, a Changewing uncamouflaged and started growling. Initially, I yelped, and then I did a whistle that I had learned calms the dragons down.

Next, was a branch from a Fire Fern. As I explained how to go about dealing with it, Hiccup grabbed some. What I was saying was that you can't touch it with your bare hands because it-like the name implies-feels like fire. I didn't even have to learn that from experience, the name just tipped me off. He complained that I should have told him sooner, though. I took Hiccup's wrist and brought him to a stream. I had heard that fresh water cools the effects of the rash **and** that was the next ingredient too.

I asked Hiccup why he was out there and he, pretty much, said it was because he was trying to get revenge on Viggo and failed, miserably. If anyone knew what it felt like to want revenge on someone and obsess over them, it was me. I admonished him about how that causes you to do terrible things. If you don't die from the awful choices you make, it eats away at your soul like a Whispering Death in the ground. It was a horrible existence that had to be worked through within yourself. On a brighter note, Hiccup took his hand out of the water and I said that he would be fine.

We were on the last item on the list: Purple Oleander. A cluster of them was up on a rock stack. Hiccup asked if I were sure that they were in the recipe. He nags a lot and I'm not fond of it. I asked if he always did that and decided to play it off as a joke. Things were tense enough between us that we didn't need anything else. He inquired how purple was different than blue when the latter was poisonous to dragons. I told him that nature was a mysterious thing. Even siblings, just like Heather and I, could be extremely contrasting. He gave it a shot and started to climb.

As Hiccup ascended the peak, I sensed a hunter coming up behind me. He planned on knocking me out with a mace, but I punched him out. It felt so good! [laughs] I tackled the hunter and Hiccup alerted me to another one. I, actually, saw him, but just wanted to punch the one a bit more. I got off the one hunter in time to avoid the other's mace and dodged some of his attacks. In a quick sidestep move, I punched him out too and caught the weapon he had dropped. I raised it over mely head and prepared to bring it down, crushing his skull in the process. I stopped before I could finish the kill. It took a whole heck of a lot to do that, but I wanted to show Hiccup that I wasn't the dangerous viking that he thought I was.

I heard an arrow whiz towards us and shoved Hiccup out the way. His reactions were too slow for me to just alert him and get us both out of the way. He questioned what was wrong with me because he didn't know why I had done that. The arrow hit me in the shoulder and didn't hurt due to my body being calloused to pain, but the toxins on it went through my bloodstream and made me lethargic. I fell to my knees as I inspected the arrow in me. A hunter came running at Hiccup and I knew that I had to stop him, but I just couldn't get up. The last thing I saw was the hunter going right into a mace that Hiccup had grabbed. Then everything faded away.

Some...interesting dreams wrecked my unconscious mind, but that didn't surprise me. I always was haunted whenever I'd close my eyes for longer than a blink. Accidentally, I responded to the nightmares with a sharp inhale and woke up. I didn't want Hiccup to know how I felt about them and it was too late to take back the gasp, so I played it off, jokingly, like they were just some weird dreams. He looked at my arm and said that I would live. That was when I noticed that he had given me a sling. I guess, I didn't really need a sling. The toxins were the only issues, but that was so nice of him! He even took the arrow out **and** brought me to the cave. He could have just left me there to be killed in my sleep, but he didn't. I'm not sure why, but I have the **hardest **time trying to get arrows out of my back area too, so that was cool of him to take care of that. No one ever had done anything nice like that for me before. The closest one had been Heather and she was just faking and trying to win me over.

I was really grateful and got a bit choked up thinking about it all. He told me that it was no problem and to consider it a thank you for the help I had given him. The sound of the concoction boiling brought my attention to it. Hiccup said that he was just about to give it to his dragon, but it needed more purple. I added in some more Oleander and Hiccup took it to Toothless. They were both paranoid and I told them that they **could** wait until it wore off and pray to Odin that we wouldn't be found by then. Paranoia's terrible and I said that it wasn't Hiccup. It was more me than anything. Everything that Hiccup had been feeling lately, I had gone through before. I've already told you about I only trusted myself. I **still** didn't trust anyone else, but I wanted to be trustworthy.

Toothless drank up-hope since he was used to expelling fire from his mouth that it didn't burn him on the way down-and started to have an adverse reaction. Hiccup, justifiably, blamed me, but I had no idea it would do that. Not like there was another Night Fury that I had seen it used on before. I tried to convince Hiccup I didn't know it would happen that way and I backed away. In a rage, he tackled me off the cliff and down the waterfall. We fell into the water and tried not to drown in the harsh current. We managed to pull ourselves onto the shore and Hiccup tackled me again. I flipped us the other way around and pinned him to the ground, trying to get it through to him that I didn't hurt his dragon-at least not intentionally.

Due to us leaping into the open, the dragon hunters found us and I raised my hands in surrender. There was no place for a sneak attack and moreover, they had arrows aimed **right** at us. They tied our hands together and forced us onto our knees. The leader of the hunters boasted about how they would find Toothless and we might have as well told them where he was and saved some time. He grabbed Hiccup and brought him to a fire where they kept a branding metal. After demonstrating it on a barrel, he put it close to the Berkian. I couldn't let that happen. I've never been branded, but I can imagine that it hurts like all get out.

I pleaded with them to stop and said that I would take them to the Night Fury. This caused them to stop and they stated that they would take some extra hunters with me, so that no funny business occurred. I took this time to go over to Hiccup, pretending like I was checking on him. I kind of was, but I was also going near that fire to use it for getting untied. It worked too! I rammed into two hunters that charged at me and caught the one's sword.

I was **this** close to freeing Hiccup when I saw how close the hunters were to us. I apologized and told him that he would only slow me down. It was true, but his face looked so sad. I would come back for him, but he was slowing me down the whole day and that wouldn't have been an exception. Had to make the hard decision and the consequences were Hiccup's words. They cut my heart like blades as he called me a fake and yelled that he hated me. I couldn't pay attention to that and kept going to the cave. He had reason to hate me, but I was going to try to eliminate that reason.

I got to Toothless and he let me ride him to go get Hiccup. He blasted the hunters that were holding the viking and we flew around hitting other hunters along the way. It. Was. Terrifying. Sort of a cool thrill too, but mainly felt terrible. I know I was screaming as we flew upside down. Why couldn't he just fly right side up? Is that too much to ask for? We did a barrel roll and I was not dizzy enough, so I was able to catch a dragon root arrow before it got him. The dragon smiled at me and we flew upwards. The ground looked so far away from up there and when we dove, my stomach did a cartwheel and ended in me almost getting sick.

We landed in front of Hiccup and Toothless reared back, throwing me off his back. After the hunter ran away, I cut Hiccup's ropes with the arrow I had caught. I had to take my helmet off to the guy. How he stomached all that flying was incredible and, at least during that time, was beyond my skill range. He extended his hand to me and I, gladly, shook it. I was getting closer to correcting the wrongs I had committed. The two flew away and blasted a ship, making all the hunters jump off. That gave me an idea to use that vessel to **finally** get off that island. I swam out to it and I called out to Hiccup, telling him to inform Heather that I would be coming to get her. It was my responsibility to make sure she was safe and happy. She was my little sibling, for Thor's sake! I didn't know if she'd be welcoming to the idea of us being like a family, but after how well things went with Hiccup, he probably would tell her and that would make it a **little** easier to earn her trust. Don't you think?


	17. Family on the Edge

I arrived at Dragon's Edge with two things, in my mind, that annoyed me. One was that I **had** to go to the Edge in the first place. After helping my brother out, I had used one of the hunters' ships to search for my sister and hadn't found a trace of her. It was like she had disappeared into thin air! The other thing was how easily I got onto the Edge. I had remembered that their security was bad before, but after months and many attacks had gone by, I figured that they would have fixed that problem. Growing and learning from your mistakes **is** all right, you know.

I wasn't even trying to sneak around or anything and just strolled through the base. Everyone was gone, so I guessed that they were out training. [chuckles] Funny how-back when I was different-despite all my planning and Ryker's lack of good planning, all I had to do to was come to the island one morning and take whatever I wanted. Things sure do change when you do too. I went passed the huts and laughed at the big "S" on Snotlip's. Going further, I found Hiccup's. Wasn't hard due to **his** being the only one with a gazillion trinkets. One, in particular, was cool. It was a sort of sword that lit up with fire. How neat is that?

As I was marvelling at the weapon, Hiccup came in. He started to back away after seeing me-probably a reflex, sadly-so I tried to remind him that it was **good** Dagur again instead of the old one. Requesting a hug seemed like a good idea because that can ease the nerves, but he was still uneasy and pulled away. That was when I realized it was due to the flaming blade being so close to his body. I tried to turn that crazy thing off, however, I had no clue how it worked. Hiccup took it from me-rather roughly, I might add-and had Toothless blow it out. Attempted to get a hug out of him too, but **still** no love. Tough crowd. It looked like it was going to take a while for us to become pals.

Hiccup asked why I was there- a reasonable question-and I told him about how I was looking for Heather. Since I was searching for her, I needed a dragon. Seeing that he, clearly, wasn't getting the connection, I told him that having the assitance of a flying, fire-breathing reptile would be of great use during my expedition. Ships are great and all, but they can only go so fast and carry traditional weaponry. Some kind of cool fire blast would have been an appreciated addition to my inventory. On a smaller note, the camaraderie that he had with Toothless was something to be desired all on its own.[excitedly] With training a dragon, I'd get **my** own little-or big-friend too.

Hiccup told me that he couldn't help me get a dragon and I reminded him of how I saved the two of them. That had to count for something! Unfortunately, the bad outweighed the good and while I **did **aid them, I had almost killed them a lot before. We weren't even close to that being balanced out yet. There was a possibility that I never really **wanted** them dead, though, and I tried to bring that up. Deep, deep down, maybe it was my misguided attempt at friendship. Whether I was right or wrong, Hiccup wasn't believing that and insisted that he couldn't help me. Notice the wording there? He said that he **couldn't **instead of **wouldn't**, so there was a reason why. I asked why he couldn't and he told me that he was busy. That was fair. I figured that he had a lot of things that he had to do, so I didn't want to burden him with my requests.

Instead of dragon training, I decided that I would take a quick walk alongside the Edge and apologize to the others. I hadn't had a chance to do that yet and **really** needed to make amends for the wrongs I had done them. The skinny Berkian told me that I couldn't do that either. I couldn't do **anything!** Slightly exasperated, I asked why about that also and he said it was because I needed to get ready for my early morning training. Man, that guy is wishy washy. It was getting to be difficult to keep up with his mood swings and I wanted to make sure he wasn't pulling my leg. He was serious and we were to meet up at the crack of morning on the far side of the Edge. Supposedly, that was where the best dragons were and he suggested that I camp there for the night, waiting. Ooh, I was so excited! I hugged him in gratitude and thanked him. Noticed something too. Hiccup is small, yes, but feels even smaller when you're hugging him and is quite cuddly. It was nice. I complimented him on these things and he requested that I never do again. Odd. I'd have to try to remember that, so as to not offend him later. After all that, I headed down to pick out my camping spot and, happily, awaited the following day.

The next morning came and it was **not** the crack of dawn when Hiccup showed up. He could've just told me another time instead of being late. Not wanting to seem psychotic or violent, I prefaced my exclamation with saying that I was excited and not mad. Annoyed a little, but he didn't need to know that. He **was** going to help me, after all. I rarely can sleep anyway, so using my good prioritizing skills, I took the time to think about what kind of dragon I wanted. I had thought about it before, but could in more detail then without having to focus on not shipwrecking or steering off course.

I asked Hiccup if he had any Skrills lying around. I still wanted my Skrilly if I could. He was so cool and powerful, but not available. Since a dragon as magnificent as a Skrill was not an option, the next logical choice was a Night Fury. Toothless was around, so I wasn't sure if more were out there. Good ol' voice of doom told me that the dragon was one of a kind. Heather's dragon was pretty interesting-very sharp and lethal- and I asked if I could get one of those. Picture the Berserker siblings flying side by side on matching dragons. It would be so perfect! But, alas, I was not destined to be part of an identical set and my well-meaning, but poor taste having, brother had already picked a dragon out for me.

Open to suggestions, but ultimately wanting a cool dragon, I hoped that it was something dangerous. I had come up with the name Shattermaster, so you can see the conundrum I'd be in if it were a puny dragon. Well, he wasn't puny, that's for sure. [laughs] From the rustling bushes came a Gronckle. The amount of disgust I felt really couldn't be described. That was a Fishlegs dragon and not a Dagur the Deranged dragon. No offense to my pal Fishy, but we're two **very** different vikings and I like a little more "Je ne sais quoi" when it comes to life.

I was trying to cope with the wiggly, dragon and strived to convince myself- and Hiccup-that he was just my **real** dragon's breakfast. That thought worked a lot better than reality. Naturally, Hiccup said it wasn't and that the bumpy thing would be my dragon. I couldn't even have the imagery of myself hovering on a, barely, lethal dragon in my head and wanted so badly to refuse riding on the reptile. He was so bubbly too. Like a wolf puppy. I said that I wouldn't ride on that dragon because it an embarrassment, honestly. It must have been Hiccup's way of getting back at me. How could I go around flying on something so small and slow in comparison to just about **every **other dragon on Earth?! Hiccup told me that it was either travel by the Gronckle or by ships and doubted that I could even get on its back. A challenge and one that I accepted. How hard could it be to do that? I had already taken down a Gronckle when I was a teenager, so that shouldn't have been an issue, I thought.

Hunting dragons back on Dragon Island, I knew that Gronckles weren't as slow as they appeared, but I had never mounted one before, so I was illprepared. The dragon didn't seem to be in any rush with going somewhere, so I jumped in the area of its neck. To be ornery, it moved back and ran. Frustrated, I got up off the ground and chased after him. That part was a little fun and I was almost there. I was **right** on its heels and had timed my jump so that I could land, directly, on his back. During this, I forgot about Gronckle tails and it used that to whack me up and away. Ricocheting off the ground, I ended up finding a well placed branch off the edge of the cliff and held on to that. Hiccup had proven his point. I didn't know what I was doing and actually needed help.

Hiccup taught me how to do that palm to nose thing that you always see him do and it worked. Shattermaster had calmed down and was ridable then;however barely. I got on his back and he kept doing this slow spinning motion. What even was that? The worst evasive maneuver option. We scratched that exercise and went up high-and I **do** mean high. The trees looked so teeny from up there. I had never been so high before and wasn't really comfortable with it. Didn't help that my dragon seemed so small that I kept thinking I'd just fall off of him at anytime. I tried to find something to grab-in case that happened-and whatever I did, made us start to lose altitude, fast.

Plummeting to the ground, something prevented us from going further and we started going back into the sky. I was clinging to Shattermaster for dear life and saw that it was Toothless that had saved us. To be honest, I kinda thought it was an angel that was sparing us the, excruciating, fate of crashing into pieces and just taking us to Valhalla first. I thanked the Night Fury and Hiccup suggested that we try a lower exercise. Probably best to not have the newcomer go up a thousand yards in air. Not like going lower was any better, though. All the trees that looked so small were looking very big and painful to crash into down there.

Instinctively, I tried to steer away from the trunks, but Hiccup told me I had to trust my dragon. [laughs, scornfully] Trust! That was the **furthest** thing from my mind, other than "trusting" myself to not want to crash. I had a flashback to my solo attempt at training Shattermaster and gave the viking's way a try. The Gronckle was going so slowly, so I sought to see how fast he could go. We went a little faster. Mainly, just fast enough to go out of control, smash into a tree, bounce off, and knock Toothless and Hiccup out of the air.

I was never this bad at learning anything! Usually, I pick up things quickly and retain them, but I was having the hardest time figuring out dragon riding. It was shameful and I apologized to Hiccup. My lack of skill seemed like I was just wasting his time and I really didn't want to do that. On top of that, his prosthetic leg had been damaged in the crash. I saw that as an opportunity to make up for the mistakes I had been committing. Metal was easy to straighten out for me and if I fixed his leg, that could at least not inconvenience him further. It seemed like Odin, himself, was against me and the leg/foot broke. I had forgotten that it was a separate item and not all one piece of metal. Ugh! I was so pathetic that day

He tried to tell me that it was all right and that he had another back at his hut, so I helped him to Shattermaster. He'd fly there on the Gronckle and then come back. The instructions "stay here" were given, but I never like when that's what they are. I asked what Toothless wanted to do to pass the time and he had a twinkle in his eye. I really like that Night Fury. He let me get on his back again and we had a **much better **flight. I still fell off, but I think that I had touched something that triggered it. At the time, I thought that he was just being mean, though. We couldn't have landed in a worse spot because the other riders were there. An ax was brought down near me and they, threateningly, asked where Hiccup was. Having part of the leg of your usual foe **is** a bit incriminating.

So yeah, that was when I realized that Hiccup hadn't told them anything. Would have been nice to know. I'm sure that I wouldn't have gone around like that if I had known they'd be ready to kill me if I were seen! Was a quick, "Hey, they don't know" too much to ask for? In the forest, a fight would have started and I didn't want to hurt any of them, so I surrendered. They tied my hands behind my back and brought me to their living area for interrogating. I kept trying to tell them that Hiccup was fine and that we were cool, but they didn't believe me. To get me to talk, the twins started singing. A pretty good way to, actually. As badly as they sounded, they could get any steel-willed prisoner to crack, but I had already spoken and wasn't lying. Hiccup showed up and Astrid rushed past me, pushing my face out of the way-which it wasn't!-with her hand. She asked my buddy if I were relling the truth and he confirmed it. My bindings were undone and we went to the huts.

Back at the huts, Hiccup explained the whole thing to his -very stunned-group of dragon riders. They asked why he didn't tell them earlier and I did too. It didn't make sense why no one was being told **anything **that day. Seemed like a lot of things could have been cleared up. Also, if I **had** been evil, Hiccup could have put his friends at risk by not telling them I was on the island. Overall, there was no way of looking at it where that was the appropriate call. He said it was because he didn't know how to feel about it all and wasn't sure how they would. Considering all I'd done, that made sense that he would feel that way. I admitted that my actions had been..questionable and Fishlegs corrected me, implying that they were far more than that. [sighs] Also true. I wanted to say something in my defense, but there was nothing **to **say. There was no excuse for my actions.

Tuffnut was understanding that I had helped Hiccup, but didn't get why he was training me to have a dragon. I told him that I was looking for Heather and the twins looked at each other, strangely. He was about to say something when Hiccup cut him off and volunteered Fishy to help tutor me. Apparently, Fishlegs knew Gronckles more than everyone and that was a sound notion. I pondered over the possibility of my prior failure being due to having the wrong teacher. Fishlegs didn't seem to mind helping me and I was eager to learn, so we headed off with the twins talking behind us.

The question in my mind about whether or not I had the wrong teacher was totally right. Fishy was an **excellent **instructor for me![laughs] We were doing all sorts of flying techniques and they were awesome. He showed me his move called the Gronckle Drop and I suggested that we do it, but flip around too. It would provide a faster way to evade attacks and was really fun. [giggles] Hiccup and Astrid showed up during the lesson and I was still flying upside down, laughing. Fishlegs told them that I was a fast learner. I knew it! I shared the glory by telling Fishy how great he was as well. Gronckles were more fun than I thought they were and it was really nice geeking out with my him. We were becoming fast friends and I loved that.

Fishlegs told them about the Inverted Gronckle Drop and we demonstrated it. He said that they could use it in battles and Hiccup agreed that it was great, but gave him a look and recommended that we stop for the day. It was too early to stop, though. Since we had started in the morning, it was just high noon and **hours** of light still were up ahead of us! I still had a whole lot to learn and didn't want to waste time. It didn't look like Fishlegs was getting tired of teaching me either. Astrid told me that I was still training, but with **her**.

Hiccup was, visibly, uncomfortable with that and I let him know that it was fine. He and I were cool and then, Fishlegs and I were cool. Astrid and I needed a chance to get to know each other outside of the past, so that we could move to a brighter future. She commented that I was right and not as stupid as I looked. [breathes, deeply] I really can't stand when people call me stupid. Too many think that of me as it is. I knew she just wanted me to blow a fuse and prove her point that I was untrustworthy, so I had to take some deep breaths and do a, calming, chant. It helps a lot to focus my mind that would, otherwise, start to linger on ways to kill/maim people.

Astrid and I worked some with flying and different commands. She said I wasn't bad and gave me some advice on flying into the sun, that way it was in my enemy's eyes. That rung a bell. I had seen her doing that when I had attacked the Edge and I made the mistake of bringing it up. It was a bit too soon for us to laugh at those memories. We headed back and I reinforced that I really was trying to become a good person. I didn't want to hurt innocent people anymore. Evil ones, sure, but not those who didn't deserve it.

She wasn't sure if she believed me, like Hiccup did, and let me know that she'd make sure I'd pay if I were not being genuine. Stormfly snarled at us and Shattermaster got ready for a fight. I calmed him down, telling him that she was just making a point and not about to attack. Astrid commented on how quickly Shattermaster and I had bonded. We really had and it was odd, but nice to know that someone was being protective over me. She repeated that she would send me to Valhalla, though, if I betrayed them. That was a fair deal. Especially since I had absolutely no intention of doing that.

At the base, the twins opened up to me about their strategic maneuvers. All of them were, humorously, named after Tuffnut. [chuckles]He was showcasing the moves with his chicken and I caught her egg before it splattered on the ground. The ideas I was being told were good and they'd be fun to test out. I was winning over the twins too. I figured Snotty wouldn't be too hard and I'd have to let Astrid know me some more, then we'd all be pals. Speaking of Snotlip, he came back to the Edge and with a very special viking. My sister! She saw me first and I went to hug her. Halfway there, I saw that her run wasn't to give me a loving embrace. It was to kill me with her weapon. My smile, quickly, faded as I shut my eyes. I wouldn't fight her and if she really wanted me gone, I would accept that, but I didn't want to see the blade go into my skull. Feeling no pain, I opened my eyes and saw that she had stopped an inch from my head. I don't know why, but I was feeling smug-that happens sometimes-and I voiced how a doubted a hug was in order. She socked me in the jaw and that was a welcome trade off for what she originally planned.

I was so frustrated with Hiccup. Not so much that he didn't tell Heather anything about the situation-if he hadn't done that for his team, he wouldn't have for her either. I was upset because he knew that she was safe and he didn't tell me. Sure, I had freed her from Viggo, so I knew that he didn't kill her, but beyond that I didn't know what happened to her. Anything could have occurred! She could have grown ill, or been captured by some **more** hunters, or died of starvation. That's why I was looking for her so vehemently. It's my job as her big brother to make sure she is going to be all right. I had messed that up before and didn't want to neglect my duties any more. She **does** have a good arm, though, so if nothing else, she can punch her foes out.

Heather didn't believe a word I was saying and told the others not to, also. She was furious and at Hiccup too for even being involved with me. She called me her mortal enemy. That stung worse than you might expect. Astrid, actually, tried to defend me a bit, when Heather said I was just playing them. My sis went on to tell them that I had sent her adrift, killed our father, and tried to kill them. Not all of that was true and trust me, there was no malicious intent when I lost Heather. My mind just wasn't right-it, barely, is now-but I wasn't trying to hurt her physically or emotionally in any way. I'll tell you more about our dad later.

I told her that I was trying to change and called her sister. She hated being called that and ordered me not to, while putting her blade at my throat. Heather said that I was a spy and despair was kicking in. I didn't know how to convince them that I wasn't working with the hunters or being evil. There was no way for them to enter my mind and see that there was nothing cruel in there. I had no means to transport them back to when I left that way of living, or anything like that. All I had was my word, and that meant nothing. I looked at them and saw their disbelief. I have forced a lot of things in my life, but mistrust and hatred I have earned, completely.

They weren't looking to detain me, so I decided that I should just leave. I tried to excuse myself, politely, but my throat was clamping up with sadness. My eyes stung as I forced tears to stay in their ducts. I didn't want to cry in front of the others, or at all for that matter. Crying was never something that I was known for, but I felt so hopeless. I wanted Heather's life to be happy and it looked like that meant that I wouldn't be part of it. She was the only family I had and the only friends I **could** have had, hated me too. It was going to be a lonely existence, but I would manage. I had for my whole life, why was then any different? I think it was because I had received a taste of what family was like. A sense of what it felt like to be accepted and welcomed into the hearts of others. It was better to never know that, than to feel it being torn away from your grasp as you were being pulled in the opposite direction.

As I walked to go find Shattermaster and travel to whatever cell pool I'd end up in, keeping a watchful eye on Heather beyond her knowledge, I came across Hiccup's hut again. The hut, itself wasn't special, but I saw a little ship-that's normally used for planning attacks on a map-on the ground. They had been referencing some big mission all day and I knew that Hiccup was far from the best strategist. He saw me in there and I told him that I didn't want Heather getting hurt. She could hate me all she wanted, but I still loved her.

He divulged that Viggo had an, incredibly unguarded, shipyard that they were targetting. Sound like a gullible move to you too? Thought so. He claimed that because there was fog, they'd be good. [sarcastically]Oh, and if I see rain, I'll go conquer some more islands. He was way too naïve. Always has been. His unchanging ways coupled with the fact that his plans aren't all that to start with, make him easy to predict. I mean, come on! I had been gone for three years and I knew what Hiccup was going to do! Viggo wouldn't have any place unguarded, but he'd make it appear that way. I estimated that his "plan" consisted of, simply, using some stacks for cover and staying out of arrow range. They were going to do, "something like that". No, you were going to do **exactly** that. If it sounds stupid when you hear it out loud, change the plan and don't lie about it.

Astrid arrived to the get together and thought I was a spy again. She put two daggers to my throat and I pushed them away with a ship. I was getting sick of that yak dung and told her to cool it. I wouldn't have been still looking at the plans if I wanted to stop them. They agreed that I couldn't leave since I had seen their mission, so I had to be locked up. Whatever. Fine. They'd never make it back from the mission, though. I told Hiccup that if anything happened to Heather, **he** would be held responsible. Toothless was the best dragon, so he'd be the only one to pull through. I was changing for the better, but if Heather died due to Hiccup, all bets were off. And that was a promise, not a threat.

My hands were tied in front of me and I was locked in a dragon pin with Shattermaster. Really going to contain me with my, newly trained, dragon, huh? Hiccup said that they'd figure out what to do with me when they got back and Heather implied torture. I put that out of my mind and inquired as to why they, just then, had decided to attack the shipyard. [sarcastically] It was almost like new ships showed up **just** to attract them. That was why, of course. The numbers had gone up from eight to twelve because it wouldn't have baited him otherwise. He wasn't using that noggin of his. Hiccup figured that his brain was telling him not to trust me. [grunts] They were making it so difficult! I came to the conclusion that I'd have to prove to them it was a trap. Oh boy, would that be something.

Tuffnut left his chicken in charge to stand guard. She wasn't hard to get past and breaking out of the pin was easy with Shattermaster's help. I grabbed some paper and wrote Heather a note. In the note, I told her that I was sorry about everything, but I did **not** kill our father. I could never hurt family, but when he disappeared, I had to let the Berserkers think that was why. I was just a teenager, too young to be respected as leader and, I thought, they needed a reason to fear opposing me. I couldn't let her think I had done that and gave her some info on Viggo's auctions too. He makes a lot of money at those and that would cripple him, if they messed them up. I put the letter in Heather's hut and mounted Shattermaster. Next, we started heading to the shipyard to take care of some business.

Hiccup was right about one thing, that place **was **foggy. You could, barely, see two feet in front of you. I really had to trust Shattermaster there. The other riders approached us and Heather and Windshear charged. I heard them and we dodged their blasts. Like a beacon confirming my actions were the right ones, I saw the sun and took Astrid's advice on flying up to it. While Heather was trying block out enough light to see me, we came up from behind her and I looked at her. My little sister. Seemed like that would be the last time I ever saw her.

She finally sensed us and Windshear slashed the air with her tail. We moved out of the way-quite expertly I shall add. We zoomed around and were going, quickly, but I knew that Windshear would win in a long haul for speed. We stopped and did the Inverted Gronckle Drop and once out of sight, flew up to Windshear's underbelly and hit her. That put her out of commission for a few and they had to land. I didn't want to hurt the Razorwhip, but I **had** to stop Heather from coming to the shipyard so soon.

We went over to the hunters and I told them to let Viggo know I said hello. We targetted their barrels and they exploded. We flew through the shipyard and, just as I had expected, hunters, armed with bows, shot at us. We exploded some more barrels and lavaed ships. While Shattermaster was doing that, I used my accuracy skills to throw some knives at the hunters. Things like cutting ropes to allow hanging metals to fall on them and that type of thing. Disarming them too! More hunters came and they shot their weapons. We were beginning to get overwhelmed, but we couldn't turn back. If we did, the others would still fight and they'd lose. All that would be for nothing and they'd meet their demises. I took out some more of my knives and encouraged Shattermaster to keep going. At least when we died, we'd be saving lives. I'd die a thousand times to protect my little siblings. And you have my word on that.


	18. Saving Shattermaster

Dragon Hunters. How I was sick of being around those scumbags, however my options were limited. I had managed to survive the Viggo shipyard run, but lost my precious Shattermaster in the process. I can still remember his expression when he was being hauled onto their ship. So distraught and helpless. I wasn't going to let them treat him like nothing more than a weapon-and I was in no rush to try another one of my brother's plans-so I knew that I needed to pretend like I had gotten amnesia.

Acting like I was still their ally, I was able to fool the hunters into telling me about their rendez-vous points and everything! Even though they knew about what was going on in their bases, there were more things outside of that which I figured could be useful to be aware of. Whenever I wasn't learning something about Viggo's plans, I would dress in rags and eavesdrop on shoppers at the different markets we'd go to. You will hear the funniest stories doing that! [laughs] Total highlight.

We went to another market to pick up some weapons. [scoffs] And I do mean just pick them up. No one was going to pay for them. I can't really chastise them about that, though, as much as I'd love to. At least, they weren't going to kill the vendors too. [sighs, ashamedly] Two newcomers almost got caught in the middle of it the "exchange". I had heard of the lady-told you that my eavesdropping was useful-and her name was Queen Mala.

From what I had overheard the merchant say, he seemed spot on. Apparently, she was the ruler of some island called Defenders of the Wing, friends to dragons, blonde, and Thor, was she tall! She went there with a ponytail guy that I thought must've been some sort of bodyguard. He wasn't doing a good job of guarding her body as he challenged the hunters. She was ready to defend him as well and drew her sword, putting it to a hunter's head.

While it might have been cool to see their skills, they were outnumbered, badly. I went forward and told the hunters to show some reverence. Grabbing a club from the bundle of arsenal, I used it to force a hunter to genuflect. Mala was a **queen**, she deserved more respect than getting jumped by thugs. I had to make the hunters think that she was a really big threat and that they'd get killed by attacking her. After they dispersed, I suggested that the queen and guard not return. The place was crawling with hunters, as of late, and they were on edge, due to their plan being so close to happening. It wasn't safe for **anyone** to be there, let alone someone who cared about dragons. She'd be dead before she even knew who was responsible.

The hunters were a bit upset about how I prevented them from killing anybody, so I distracted them with some stories that we had been told. They recalled the tales, quickly and were laughing about them in no time. I was able to get back at one hunter by pushing him off the docks too. [laughs] He had boasted about the different things he had done to dragons and vikings, so he deserved it. I made him think that I was giving him a hand and pulled it away. Now, it's great to be good, but it felt awesome just doing ornery stuff like that again. Can't do that around the riders, or else they might doubt my kindness and gaining trust took too long to just toss it out for cheap fun.

A little later, I was back to listening in on shoppers. Oh, I would wear a cool hood when out as a hunter, also.That way, no civilian would recognize me as either a hunter or vagabond. My dropping of eaves was interrupted by Toothless and Windshear. Obviously, I couldn't fight them off. That would draw too much attention too soon and the hunters would see them. Plus, I didn't want to, accidentally, hurt them. Thusly, I tried to convince them to shoo and got dragged back my sister and brother.

Whoo! Heather was not happy with me. I was beginning to wonder if she ever **would **be. She started asking why I didn't return to the Edge, but I had to get rid of them. Like I said earlier, that place was extremely dangerous and the last place I wanted the two vikings. I called out for help, pretending that I was being robbed. Pretty sure, I did a great job of acting too. They were **supposed** to run off, so as to not be seen. They stayed there and Hiccup thought that I had hit my head on something. Heather knew that I was faking, but couldn't prove it.

I kept calling out, trying, desperately, to convince them to leave. Why would they not just go! Take a hint, fam! The hunters came an saw them. [sarcastically] Big shocker, huh? When the four were focused on defending against the hunters' attacks, I took that time to run. I hoped that if I were gone, they'd leave. I doubted that they would, but I didn't want their help. They'd slow me down and I was **so** close to getting my dragon buddy back.

I was still in rags, but the ships that had the Gronckles in them were approaching the docks. Took them long enough! Heather showed up again and began to attack. It was like they were consorting with the hunters to keep my Shattermaster from me. She told me to fight back, but I wouldn't. Why couldn't they comprehend that I didn't want to fight them? I'd never forgive myself if I ever hurt Heather..or Hiccup again.

Windshear blasted every spot I tried to hide behind and I ended up using a crate for protection. Then, Toothless arrived and was about to blast a hole in me. I ducked just in time, but by this point, I was getting pretty peeved. I wouldn't hurt them, but I **would** use them against each other. Making myself a clear target, I tricked Windshear into firing in my direction. By moving out of the way, Toothless was in the line of fire. I knew he wouldn't get hit, though. He's too agile. He moved out the way and I was able to run past him.

The hunters started shooting at the four and I kept an eye on them while I was running. Heather chased me down again and used the Razorwhip to grab my foot. Darn momentum and gravity made me hit my head, hard, and fall unconscious. When I came to, I was dangling from Windshear's tail and we were flying away from the island. I had to tell them that I hadn't really lost my memory and about the situation with Shattermaster. I hoped that they would be more understanding after that.

They believed me and we landed on a nearby piece of land. Hiccup was attempting to convince Heather to be nice, but I didn't need an apology. I still didn't deserve one and besides, I could see in her eyes that she felt, badly. Kind of pushed it a bit too far by **mentioning** that I saw that, though. Actions are more meaningful than words, so I wanted them to help me get my dragon back. After all, they **had** taken me so far out of the way. Heather wanted some answers first, but who knew where Shattermaster would be by the time she was satisfied? No, he had to take precedence, although I promised that her questions would be answered at a later date.

Knowing that Hiccup would suggest something no matter what I said, I decided to just ask him for his thoughts. I had made it pretty easy, anyway, because of all the stakeouts I had done. I knew which ships had the Gronckles and where the hunters normally stayed. All we had to do was sneak on board, take Shattermaster, and leave. No one would notice the difference. Except for how amazing Shattermaster was. They might've noticed such a magnificent dragon missing. Hiccup said that we should split up and then flew off with Toothless. Heather gave me permission to get on Windshear with her and we flew off too.

Hiccup checked all the ships that had harbored the Gronckles and found only weapons. It was so frustrating because I **knew **that the dragons had been there. Hiccup figured that Viggo had traded them for the weapons with some Iron Masons. Still being pretty new to Gronckle Iron, it took me a few seconds to realize that was the reason why the masons would want them-other than, simply, wanting one of the best dragons to ever grace the earth. Heather said I sounded like Fishlegs and I probably did. What are you gonna do? Gronckles are cool!

We had headed East, in the direction of the masons last know location. Spotting Shattermaster, I told the others. [scoffs] Heather wasn't sure if I were positive about that or not. As if I wouldn't know my dragon. Those masons were going to pay and I charged down to save my Gronckle. I took two weapons from the supply and warned the masons that I'd leave in peace, if and only if they released my dragon. Yeah, I know it would've been fun to kill them, but I was really trying to wean myself off of doing that in abundance.

Heather and Hiccup came down to help, so I just attacked the hunters. It felt awesome to fight again and even better knowing that my favorite little Gronckle was safe. He helped me too by tripping one mason with the chain that was on his leg. I had finished with the vikings and went to remove his confinements, but another one came up and attacked. That one was a much better fighter than the others were and Heather helped me. I freed Shattermaster and Hiccup freed the others as we escaped.

I was half expecting some, judgemental, glare from Heather, but she was okay with it all. The same went for Hiccup. It just seemed like he would be angry at me, so I had prepared a speech to defend my actions. The Berkian actually wasn't mad, which was weird. I'm more accustomed to people being furious at me, than not, so it was a welcome change. Here inlied the problem, though, Viggo's fleet was coming up to us and we knew that we couldn't make sure all the Gronckles were safe. They were untrained and would have only scattered, sealing for fates, unbeknownst to them.

I wasn't willing to let the Gronckles get recaptured or my little siblings hurt, so I came to the conclusion that I'd distract them with Shattermaster. Heather didn't want me to go-which felt great to know, by the way!-but I had to. I gave her my Berserker promise that I would return and answer anything she asked of me. There was no way you could break the Berserker oath, so I knew that I would make it back to be there for her. Sadly, but resolute, I flew off with Shattermaster and led them in the opposite direction. I couldn't wait until I'd see Heather again. We had so many things that we needed to do and I was going to make sure that they got done.


	19. Gold Rush

Sometimes you'll give a viking a whole arsenal. You know, axes, maces, swords-the works. Now, do they always **u****tilize** these weapons? No. Occasionally, they'll throw them into the sea, right before a battle. I gave Hiccup the best information I had on taking down Viggo-his dragon auctions-and he ruined it! All they had to do was make the Grimborns think that there was a bunch of gold with them and they could've snuck through the auction grounds, freeing dragons along the way. Instead of that, apparently, they actually brought **all** of Berk's gold for the ruse. No way I would have done that. Kind of surprised Stoick went along with it. Viggo-being the scheming viking that he is-tricked them and took everything. That was the big thing to talk about back when I pretended to be with the hunters again. They couldn't stop ranting and raving over how clever their leader was.

After Shattermaster and I had, successfully, led the hunters away, we began to head back to the riders' edge. We made it there during a conversation Heather was having with Hiccup about finding Viggo. They could really use some work on their "sensing when people are around them" skills. They didn't even notice as Shattermaster and I were standing right there. There were no security obstacles to avoid either. Heather was stunned that I had returned, but I had made my promise and had entended on keeping it.

The riders had eaten yak legs and gave me one. [yums] It was so good! I was, just about, positive that my sis had cooked it and was proven correct when she thanked me for my compliment. Cooking has always been in our family's blood. [says, dreamily] I could already imagine the delicious Berserk chickens that she and I could prepare for feasts back on our island. Forgot about Tuff's chicken, though. He was a bit sensitive about me eating her kin and I apologized. It felt great to eat something again. We hadn't eaten anything in days because all the islands we found had rocks that didn't agree with Gronckles. I didn't want to eat with Shattermaster starving like that, so we both just held on until we could reach a better location.

Fishy fed my reptilian friend, who gobbled up the rocks. I reminded the dragon to be polite and he spewed some lava in thanks. Hiccup lost his patience, waiting for me to start delving into what I had learned, so I got to the point. On the way to the edge, I figured that we could try to look for Heather's and my father. We didn't find him, but we **did** find a little puny hunter. It was disappointing how wimpy he was. If Hiccup had an evil, pathetic version of himself, it would've been that guy. My brother took a bit of offence at being, indirectly, called scrawny and wimpy, but I didn't mean it to come out like that. All I had to do was sneer at the hunter and he spilled his guts. Too much, though, and I had to shut him up by choking him out. He's probably fine. As soon as the air goes back into his lungs, that should resuscitate the viking.

The twins started going off about how much they liked Berserker choke holds and Hiccup kept pressing on what the hunter had said. A fair trade seemed in order. I'd never heard Hiccup say "brother" in a non-sarcastic way, so I wanted him to call me that back. At least, one time, but he just frowned. Killjoy. I told them that the hunter stated where Viggo kept his gold. Some of that being Berkian gold, of course. They started to get ready to head out and I let them know that I planned on taking some of Viggo's gold for Heather and I to search for our dad. Since neither of us had killed him, he could have been alive. Heather thought that I was kidding, but I was dead serious. Maybe if we found him, the three of us could finally be a family.

We flew to the location the hunter had given and that made it our first mission all together. Berserkers and dragon riders. Fishy corrected me on this, saying that **I **was the only Berserker there. Think what you'd like, Fishlegs, but Heather's my sister. I.E. making her a Berserker too. We landed on the island and found only ruins. It was odd, to say the least. Hiccup spotted some wagon tracks and we followed that, finding a covered building. Snotty didn't think that it was anything special, but my brother and I knew better. Hiccup removed the covering and warned us about any traps that might have been set up to protect the gold.

The twins-um-"searched for traps" you could say. I just was hoping that they wouldn't kill themselves with their imaginations. They were vivid, but unhelpful for getting things done at the time. Hiccup went next and had Toothless fire at the door. Nothing happened from the blast, so I offered a suggestion. A Berserker style attack fit the situation, perfectly. My sis assumed that "Berserker" meant crazy, which was, slightly, insulting. Everyone always thinks that we're only crazy and nothing else. Sure, we can be, but loyal too and that's what Berserker style means. If you're going full in with protecting your family and friends, **that's **our way.

I had Shattermaster demostrate a new move that we had been working on. It was called the Shatterscatter and was super cool. He backed away from the building and started to fly towards it, with me cheering him on. At the last second, he rolled into a ball and ended with his tail pointing to the object. Having the momentum from flying, this knocked down the hut's door. It sent an earthquake-like tremor in the ground and a lot of us fell. Shattermaster emerged, triumphant, and I told Heather that my cheer had been a Berserker battle cry. It's not a throaty cry like most tribal yells, but one that derives from your spirit. The stronger your spirit, the better your cry. I knew that Heather had good willpower, so I assured her that she would get it. She'd be connected to her Berserker heritage in no time.

The building was empty, but the tracks still indicated that gold had been unloaded there. Hiccup guessed that the gold had been carried away by hand and was somewhere else on the island. I suggested that we split up to cover more ground. Heather was on my team-as was Fishy-and we searched the north. My sister and I could talk about our plans while looking. I started telling her that after we got our share of the gold, we would head East. A, shifty, little viking was in the Eastern Markets and could probably tell us some information about our dad.

Heather told me that I was going too quickly and that she needed more time to think. Enough time had already gone by, though, with our family in disarray. She pointed out that if I wanted us to be a family, I shouldn't have sent her adrift. [sighs] That was a..complicated situation. I promise that there was not any malicious intent behind my actions and I, immediately, missed her. I apologized for doing that and understood that she needed to heal; however, we needed to move forward too for our brighter future. I wasn't asking for automatic forgiveness or even an immediate answer, but I just wanted her to think about it. Whatever she decided, I would support.

We came up to a cave and Fishlegs was feeling some trepidation about going in there. I said that I could check that one out. Besides, the tranquil feeling of a dark cave is unparalleled. Shattermaster and I couldn't find the gold and saw some Terrible Terrors in its place. I tried to meditate with them, due to how different animals provide unique influences. They were awful at meditating and swarmed around us. [shudders] It was uncomfortable and we rushed out the cave. Way to ruin a perfectly good cave, Terrors! We saw that Fishy and Heather were about to kiss-don't know what provoked **that **in that short amount of time. They acted like they weren't, though. Can't fool me. Just like how my brother tried to act like he and Astrid weren't together yet. [laughs] Doesn't try that anymore!

We went back to tell Hiccup that the north was vacant and saw that the other riders had been captured. They were getting hauled away in cages and all I could hear was Snotnose screaming. Have **some** dignity, please. They must've been slipping because they didn't use to be that easy to capture. Good thing, though, because if I **had **caught them, I don't know if I'd be telling you about any future adventures of theirs. [chuckles, sheepishly] Anywho, we knew that we had to act fast on saving them and I had a plan. Fishy wanted to do it his way because Hiccup's his best friend and gave a very heartwarming speech about it, so I complied. That was when I really started to realize how much the riders cared about each other. They weren't just allies, but a family in their own right. It was interesting to be around people that looked out for each other like that.

Fishy's plan was that Heather and I would attack the outer vessels while he went after the main ship. They headed off and I did a bit of meditation. Can't take part of a battle without a clear mind. Hearing arrows being shot at Heather made my head clear up really quickly and we went to help. Shattermaster and I slammed into the ships, knocking the hunters around. We blasted the boats and everything, but nothing worked. The ships were dragonproof. Since his planned failed, I offered up mine again.

Fishlegs was still hesitant, but Heather was willing to give me a shot.

Heather and I flew up on Windshear, the Razorwhip's tail holding Shattermaster. My sister wasn't certain if it would be successful, although I knew that with us working together, we couldn't fail. Our move was "The **Flying **Shatterscatter"-it's even more lethal that way. Windshear hurled Shattermaster at the ships and he penetrated them, making the ships sink! We kept going and, soon, only had a couple left. I asked Heather if she were ready to finish it and if she were with me. That last part had more to it than one might assume. I wasn't just wondering if she'd be willing to be fine with me for the rest of the rescue mission, but from that point on. I had really hoped that she could learn to trust me and planned on making it easier every day. She was open to it, we locked hands for a moment, and she did a Berserker cry. A wonderful sound. With our final throw, Shattermaster took out the remaining ships.

We returned to the island and Hiccup said that he had deciphered where the gold was. Viggo had put it in the ruins! Toothless blasted the objects to reveal the Aurum. Most of the riders and I began to load up the gold while Fishy and Heather spoke. She was letting him know that she was going to leave with me and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Told you that they were trying to be a thing. I extended my hand to the viking, assuring him that she would be safe with me. He stated that she better be and we mounted our dragons. Saying goodbye, we flew off to start our new journey.


	20. Shell Shocked

Hiccup had finally come up with a plan to stop Viggo, once and for all. It was a simple strategy, but sometimes those work really well. Basically, we'd sneak in there, take out hunters, undo traps, and give an opportunity for Hiccup to go stop Viggo. When we arrived, everything had been destroyed for us. Hiccup had gone into the hunter's hut and found him crammed under the ground compartment, all roughed up. Served him right, but it didn't look like they did a good job. Him **breathing**, for instance, was enough evidence that they failed.

Stoick started choking Viggo.[laughs] See? **That's** more like it! Being the Hiccupy viking that he is, my brother stopped the chief from finishing the deed. Viggo claimed that Rykie turned on him and persuaded his hunters to do the same. Not like that would be hard. As condescending as he was, anyone with an iota of self-respect would go against him. He said that Ryker's plan was to wipe out Hiccup and his allies. [sarcastically] Whoo! There's a new challenge, right there. Least be creative. It's too generic to kill whoever gets in your way, but I shouldn't have expected anything more from Rykes. The funny thing, though, is that **he** was the one reminding me how Viggo was his brother, not to hurt him, and that he never would because of their familial ties. Must have forgotten about that halfway through punching his little bro's lights out.

The twins started trying out their one-liners on Viggo and Hiccup had them stop. The girl's-uh, Ruff's-wasn't bad, but..Tuff's was. Viggo told us that he wanted us to help him regain control over the hunters. Fat chance. Snotpocket was thinking the same thing and said the whole suggestion was yak dung. Very true. It's quite easy to trick people. All you have to do it lull them into a false sense of comfortability and then you've got 'em. That hunter was a slippery one, so he couldn't be trusted.

To help convince us, he told us that Ryker would be attacking the Defenders, Heather's and my Berserkers, the Outcasts, and, of course, Berk. Not really a surprise since he wanted to take out Hiccup and his allies. The tricky part would be what he was using. Project Shellfire. I had heard about it, briefly, and it sounded like a lethal attack. Hiccup wanted to listen to that part of what Viggo had to say and suggested that Heather and I return to Berserker Island. Honestly, though, I was going to whether he said so or not. Those are our people and I wasn't taking any chances. But hey, why not let the Berkian think he was making good calls?

We were on our island and good thing too because the Shellfire thing attacked. Straight out of nowhere! We never even saw whatever the thing was. It just shot up our home and left[snaps fingers] like that. Hiccup and Astrid went off to figure out what Shellfire was and left the others to help us out. I would have had more faith in the helpers, if they had been able to stop talking about Hiccup and Astrid the whole time. Kind of have more pressing matters! Don't mind the innocent vikings, hopefully not getting crushed or roasted alive. Not like what they were talking about was even important. They kept saying how something was going on between Hiccup and Astrid. Really? They couldn't tell. It was too obvious that they were dating, but no. The **much clearer** answer to them was that either one of them had a gambling problem or was dying. [sighs]

We saved our Berserkers, but there was a lot of damage that had been done. I don't think I've ever seen the island in such a state before. I, hardly, recognized it. Heather was pretty upset about it too and I tried to console her. So badly, I was attempting to control my temper, but I wanted to run an ax clean through Viggo's body. I told Hiccup this and, I guess, said some catchphrase that Snotnose uses. I've never heard him say it before, though. Either way, that really wasn't the time to get stingy with trademarks. Luckily, I was too focused on being angry at Viggo that I didn't lash out at the viking.

Hiccup had a new plan to protect their Edge. I was listening, but I kept worrying about what would happen if the hunters returned to Berserker Island without me being there. Odin had blessed us by not letting anyone die and I didn't want to test it. Because of this, I might have appeared a **bit** preoccupied. Also, I kind of have a nervous habit of biting at my hand. If you ignored that, though, I think that I was looking pretty confident. Snotknuckles, on the other hand, was ready to give up and go home. [laughs, spitefully] Not like "home" wouldn't just get destroyed next. It can be challenging having respect for that guy, but I was trying. How much of an idiotic, coward are you to just let someone destroy your base and then move on to your home? We all looked at him like he had lost any shread of bravery he had in his stumpy body.

Hiccup wanted Shattermaster and I to go guard the Edge's back, since we're so good at sneaking around. Very kind of him to say that. I have always been a stealthy one. Some hunters started attacking the Edge and the riders' newly saved dragon. He was a Triple Stryke. Those are really cool, but he was outnumbered, pretty badly. I can't stand bullies, so Shattermaster and I were going to teach those hunters a lesson. He let out a stream of lava that separated them from the other dragon and bludgeoned them. They readied their arrows and I figured that instead of teaching them a lesson-since they were beyond learning one-we could just kill them. As long as **I'm **not the one, directly, doing it, there should be no sensation that might make it difficult to stop.

We dodged arrows, however, a catapult got us with one of their boulders. Shattermaster was injured and wasn't able to fly anymore, so I took him to hide behind some rocks. We'd stay together until the end, if we had to. Neither of us would be in captivity again. Death was a more merciful fate, if not the most preferable one imaginable. Some more hunters stalked over to our location and I grabbed my ax, ready to take them out. Whatever needed to be done to protect my dragon, I'd do. The sounds of roaring and screams came, alerting us to the fact that it was not our time to go to Valhalla. Worked for me!

The Triple Stryke had returned to help us. He took out the hunters like it was nothing! The dragon put its tail next to me and had this look on his face, which I, happily, noticed meant that he wanted me to be his rider. That tail of his was amazing. He earned his name and kept knocking hunters about. Hiccup came oer and helped us take out the last of the ships. He suggested that I take Shattermaster to Gobber for first aid. While I know about human first aid, **dragon **care was a foreign concept to me, so it was a good recommendation. Hiccup went to go help Fishy and, finally, called me "brother". [sighs, happily] I hated that there wasn't much more help I could give the others, but I really needed to make sure my precious Gronckle was going to be all right. After everything was settled, they could fill me in and we would work on our next move.


	21. Something Rotten On Berserker Island

I had invited the riders to our home for a festivity. It was the graduation of my new Berserker apprentice. Heather and I flew over to meet up with the Berkians and greeted them. They were needing a bit of help that I could provide-being chief and all. Felt great to be that again. Getting them proper clearance was an issue with my guard because...[laughs] Snot's name was written down as Snothat. Just had to do that. I "apologized" and corrected it once as Snotpocket and then as Snotlip.[giggling] You should have seen his face! He was so irritated! Snotnose was still welcomed on the island, though, as were the others and we began to bring them through the tour.

I showcased the wonder of our island and our people, flying the riders over some Berserkers and Savage having a conversation. Hiccup was surprised that I had Savage there on the island and mentioned that, instead of saying something else-which I'll discuss in a little bit. I called over to the former Outcast and he waved back. As we continued to fly, the dragons began to get discombobulated. It was odd, but whenever we reached the center of the island, they acted up. We had to put our stables near the summit and Astrid noted how similar they were to theirs. Hey, a good idea is a good idea. They had some nice stables. Couldn't have done it better, myself, so I didn't! [laughs, ornerily] As soon as we landed, our flying friends were a lot calmer.

While I was snuggling against Sleuther, Snothole came over and called me "Dagster". [inhales, sharply] I'm not a fan of getting nicknames. At all. Still, though, I tried to he nice and, calmly, requested that he not call me that again. He kept pushing the matter and Sleuther scared him by showing his poisonous tail. That's my boy. Snotlip let off of that and started asking me about the apprentice program. Stuff like why I was having one, why someone would want to **be** one, all those things that were really none of his business. Sleuther was ready to attack as soon as Snotpocket attempted to force me to tell him. I had him stand down and explained to Snotnose that it was an important position. Or, at least, it **should **have been. I gave him this story about how we scoured the archipelago for the baddest, smartest, and craziest viking-basically, someone like me[chuckles]. But, seriously, if we had found someone like that, it would've been great.

Instead, we got Gustav. [sarcastically] Yay. I announced the kid and he emerged like he was some kind of hero. Started rambling on about how no one else appreciated him, blah, blah, blah. The thing that got me was that he said it was like he was born to be..a..Ber-ugh! I can't even say that. I could, barely, get out the words to indicate a high five after he said that. He was impossible! You couldn't treat him, poorly, and you couldn't treat him, kindly, either. There was nothing to do for the kid. Just pass him onto the next victim. Snotface had a hard time accepting what was going on and I tried to sell it for the riders. Snothat wasn't too much better and wondered why I took the fake him instead of just him. Honestly, if given the option, I would have **n****either** as an apprentice.

Trying to convince them that Gustav was a genuine apprentice, I told them that he had learned our Berserker history and songs. Technically, he **pretended** that he did. The kid took a spear and started showing off his "Berserker fighting techniques".[scoffs] Nearly took an eye out with that thing and I tossed it to the side. There **was **a bright side to this whole ordeal, though. I informed the riders that Gustav was graduating two weeks early. In other words, "I can't take this kid anymore!" He had to go and soon. It seemed like one more day of being followed around by the little Berkian would make me revert back to my old ways.

We started doing a "you stop it" thing-I kept thinking about it as "you stop being a headache"-and didn't notice as a boulder, suddenly, commenced rolling down a cliff towards us. Snot pushed us out of the way and-pretty much just to mess with him-I made it seem like I thought that Gustav had done it. In fairness, he pushed from Gus's angle and Gustav took credit for it like the loser that he is, sooo I **c****ould **have thought it was the kid. I made a mental note to thank the older Berkian later anyway, though. Gustav just kept on going and suggested that he bring them on a tour through our celebration, doing so by speaking very amateurish french. [dramatically] J'adore Français. He couldn't even do a few words right.

We went past phases one and two. I couldn't tell you what they were supposed to be nor what their differences were. H thought the same and Gustav acted like it was obvious. The twins were disappoited that no one was excited, but our Berserkers gave all that they could muster. The little beast had sucked all their energy dry. Luckily, I have an unusual amount of my own and was unaffected, in that regard. The last stop was the trading zone. He wanted to call it the "Wall-market". Just some flimsy wall standing, aimlessly, in the middle of a, pitiful, area. As soon as we got rid of the Berkian, I'd change it to something nice. A horn alerted us that it was the time for the festival and I couldn't have been happier. Just a **little **bit longer![laughs] That's all I'd have to make it through!

The ceremony was held in the center of the village and I rose from my throne to begin. Now, common courtesy would suggest that when your leader rises, you quiet down. I thought that my Berserkers were more well-mannered and would have known that. They did not and I actually have to hand it to Gustav. At least, he was silent and attentive, for once in his life. Even if it were only to receive praise. Slightly annoyed, but still calmly-I cleared my throat. They **still** wouldn't shut up, so I told them to. Fear was plastered on some of their faces and I calmed down. Didn't care too much about that at the time, still. That ceremony was going to happen and end as quickly as vikingly possible. I wanted that brat "g", "o", "n", "e". Catch my drift?

I began by recounting a tale that my great uncle Haggard used to say tell me when I was little. It's a marvelous story about his years in battles and a hilarious one at that. Gus laughed, but no one else did. He might have only done it to pacify me, to be frankly honest. Sense everyone was being so stick-in-the-mudish, I moved on to why we were all there:getting rid of Gustav. I said generic stuff like he would be missed, he'd leave a big whole in our island and my heart. Things that sounded nice, but weren't meant. Before I could finish the deed, two of my Berserkers came up from behind me. I sensed them coming, but thought that it was for some innocent clapping or something. They tried to force me to my knees and before I could incapacitate them, Savage put a sword to my throat. It wasn't making any rational sense what was going on and he explained that he what he was doing. He had started a coup!

My hands were chained together in front of me and I was brought to the prison. I kept trying to figure out why Savage had betrayed me. If he had pulled a stunt like that when I was evil, it would've made sense. He wasn't treated the best during that time, but I had really tried to change and treat them all with respect and consideration. **That** was the reason he had turned traitor. He didn't want to follow someone that was good, even if it meant being in better circumstances. Now, this is what I was talking about before with what Hiccup should have said. Later, I found out that Savage had attempted to give Hiccup to the hunters for a bounty-seeming very evil and all that. Instead of being, mildly, surprised, Hiccup should have told me what happened. I was still trying to get Shattermaster back at the time of that occurring, so the former Outcast and I weren't around each other. Or no, it's fine, H. Just let me find out the hard way.

I had never been betrayed before. I was either the one doing it, or didn't expect enough out of the other viking to be surprised when they didn't have my back. With everything that we had gone through, in my own way, I had considered Savage a friend, of sorts. I was wrong and he hated my guts. Even my laugh-which hurt the most. It kind of just sounds that way. I've been asked to change it, but haven't figured out how. Savage mentioned how I had switched sides and said that I was a disgrace. [breathing quickens] I don't like that word. Heard it too many times. I kept a level head-for the most part-and offered up some more verbally unique choices. He didn't want any of those and decided that "prisoner" suited me best. A hard kick sent me into a cell, where I was locked in.

The Berserker jails were a lot nicer than the Outcast's one, but I was getting some uninvited flashbacks. To stay as sane as attainable, I began to meditate. Gustav got tossed into the cell with me and I kept going. Second lesson in courtesy: don't interrupt someone when they're meditating. It was all I could do to not use the chains to strangle the life out of Gusty. He wouldn't shut up about how it wasn't his fault and punk stuff like that. I mentioned the third eye, actually asked him if he knew what it was, but that was just to transition into my statement. I knew the kid was too dense to know anything about spirituality and didn't even want to waste time explaining it to him. All I wanted was to be left to my search for sanity, in peace. Preferably, before I, completely, snapped. Was that so wrong?

A little bit of time passed and Snotrag came into the prison. He had taken out the guards and unlocked the cell door. **Al****most**, I gave him credit, but he was being so braggy about it that I pretended like I was still on the Gustav band wagon. Mentioned how Gus bored the guards to their slumber with his incessant story telling and talking. We exited the jail, but not without taking some weapons first. I led them into town and had the two stop when I heard some hunters coming. We ducked behind some large rocks and began to formulate a strategy. I had noticed, roughly, twenty vikings that had sided with Savage, so we could each take out about three. Snotrider was on board with the plan and I started the count to attack.

Gustav called for me to stop and I did. He was an even bigger failure than I had thought and not only lied about everything, but couldn't even withstand his moment of truth. He admitted that he had cheated on tests, lip-synched through songs, and not learned any fighting techniques. **Loser****!** It looked like Snotpit would burst from happiness at the sight of the Berkian being shown to be pathetic and I had him move over to talk to me. Sure, the kid was a problem, but he didn't have to be so mean about it. I divulged that I knew Gustav had been lying the whole time. Did Snots think that I was an idiot? Stoick had asked that I take the kid away from Berk for some time, to give him a break. Everything had been set up and false.

Gus was over there having an emtional/mental breakdown and Snotnose said realized that he, genuinely, wouldn't be able to handle something so serious. I agreed and he requested that I call him by his actual name. It was so fun trying to see how many things I could use in place of "lout", but he meant it, so I'd try my best. We figured that we'd have to go ten a piece and headed off to take out the low-lives. We did and ending up ziplining down onto the scene of Savage taking the advantage over the riders. Snot..lout knocked him away from Heather and I slid back into my throne. Everything was right in the world again.

The ceremony was postponed until the next day and, again, the Berserkers wouldn't be quiet. I got them to silence themselves and started announcing the best apprentice. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, Gusthat thought that **he **was going to receive the bust. Think again! Snotlout had earned it and I handed him the reward, applause filling the air. As grateful as I was to him and despite how I was fine with being his friend, there was **one** more thing I had to do. I might or might not have written down "Snotknuckles" on his trophy. [laughs] I just couldn't help myself!


	22. Searching for Oswald and Chicken

Ever since Gusthat had returned to Berk, Heather and I were able to start our search for our father. While it seemed like a wonderful thing to do, formerly, it ended up just endangering our lives more and more with each new location. We were using the journal that Dad had left, but if you told me he was just trying to see how long we'd manage before using self-preservation instincts to stop, I would have believed you. Heather and I were at another spot it had led us to-a cave this time-and the thing started crashing down on us! Rocks and boulders were falling from every side and angle. All I could do to keep Heather safe was stay behind her, that way I could see anything coming towards her and make sure that she got out of the cavern. We, barely, made it before the whole place was a clump of rocks.

While I was checking to see if Strykie was all right, Heather was talking about how she couldn't figure out where we messed up. By following that diary! It was a prep obituary book. She thought that we were getting closer, but it wouldn't even matter how close we might have been if we died before ever reaching the final destination. Or maybe the book's final destination **was **Valhalla. Who could tell? My sis swore that Oswald wouldn't have stopped looking for us. Kind of disagree there, although it wasn't the time to tell her that, so I went past that part of her statement. The whole thing was getting to be too much and we needed to stop. Sensing her feeling attacked, I tried to convince her that I knew about meaningless things pretty well. The majority of my existence had been pretty useless up until recently, after all.

Heather was determined to be more stubborn than a yak and got upset at me for not wanting to continue with the wild dragon chase. She started to climb back on Windshear, but I gave her an embrace first. The cool thing about me being more on the snuggle-liking side is that it would never seem out of place for me to hug someone that I care about. While I **did** want to give her one, the main reason was that I could, slyly, take the book away from her. A little skill that I've had for the longest time is being about to take things without people noticing. I don't need to use it often, but it was necessary in that situation. I figured that she'd be furious as soon as she realized it was gone, however her being alive to be upset meant a lot more to me. If she didn't have the crazy journal to follow, she couldn't die from it. Plus, I needed the diary to get some more info to help my cause.

Sleuther and I flew to Dragon's Edge and before I could even breathe, Snotlout ran up to me. Now, if the scenario had been different, it would've been fine. The problem was that I was already on edge[chuckles]-or **the **edge-from all the deadly spots we had gone to, got no time to really get off of Strykie, **and** got called by a name that I had, particularly, requested to not be. Needless to say, Snothat didn't get the warmest greeting that I'm capable of. I felt a little bad after he mentioned that friends often give each other nicknames. Gotta say that first, Snotty. I still don't like that name, though. "Dagster". It sounds stupid. I ended up calming down and asked him if he knew where Hiccup was.

The Berkian was in his hut and I showed him the journal, telling my brother how Heather would get herself killed following it. She wasn't even thinking while doing the death-defying stunts required not to die. There **are** some kinds of cool reckless behaviors, but she had none of them. Just the foolish ones. Here's the thing: Berserkers have a tendency to become obsessed over things, so it was highly likely that Heather was experiencing the same thing that the rest of us had to battle. Hiccup wondered if I thought that she was, but it was so obviously that! I felt myself lose some of my temper and had to calm back down again. I'd have to explain things in a more transparent way to the guy. If she wouldn't listen to someone who was trying to overcome his own, unhealthy, obsessions, maybe she'd listen to him. That's why I brought the book to Hiccup. She respected his opinion a lot, so if he agreed that the book's pages were filled with nonsense, **hopefully**, she'd concede.

Hiccup was starting to realize that the book was making no sense and I was glad that he could help me end this whole thing. I began going off about how irritating Heather was-hey, I love my sister, but I don't idolize her or anything. When she's wrong, I'll let people know. As I was doing this, Hiccup noticed some dragon called a "Sentinel" on the page and said that there was only one place where they lived. Even more importantly, that he knew where that was. Some place called "Vanaheim". Hiccup told me that it was a retirement home for dragons that he and the other riders had found a bit earlier. It was a secret place, only for the dragons, so I couldn't tell anybody.[scoffs] Easy! Even though you might not think that I do, I keep a lot of things to myself. Mainly emotions, but a lot of various facts as well. The most clever vikings know how to keep their mouths closed.

We were about to head off to this old folks land and I could just feel my excitement building. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so good. We'd finally get this behind us and Heather would be content. The twins came over and commenced rambling about a chicken. It would have seemed like Tuff's little fowl friend scurried off for an adventure of her own. I tried to be as patient and understanding as possible with their concern over a bird, but it was taking **way** too long to get it settled and time was of the essence. The longer we waited, the more danger Heather could be throwing herself into. With some convincing and mild complaining, I got Hiccup and Fishy to wrap it up and fly.

The two riders and I were en route to Vanaheim and Heather never strayed from my mind. I really hoped that we would have been able to scrounge up some evidence that would've satisfied the relentless viking. Thinking more about her, I wondered if I should have told her where we were going. She, definitely, would've loved to come. This terrible sensation came over me that I could only describe as guilt. It was a foreign emotion and, for that, I was grateful. It felt awful. All icky inside.[shudders] Hiccup reassured me that since Heather was being so irrational, it would be safest for us to go there first and then bring her. He reminded me what I had told him and I, almost, couldn't believe that it had come from me. Sounded so...responsible. My little bro said that it was the right thing and I beamed. The progress was difficult to do, but I was coming a long way.

Fishlegs spotted the island and Hiccup told us the plan. It, for the most part, was so obvious that I don't know why he felt the need to say it. Just land and search for Oswald. [sarcastically] Never would've thought of doing that. The one thing about what he said that made absolutely no sense to me was that Hiccup said we'd cover ourselves in fruit before leaving. Fruit baths **are** pretty good and I've had my fair share of them. They leave you very well moisturized and with a fragrant scent, but that seemed odd to do at Vanaheim. I asked how the fruit would help us and Hiccup said to escape. Quite matter-of-factly too. Jeez, Hiccup. That's not exactly the first thing that pops into my head when I think of fruit. Don't have to act like it was a stupid question.

We flew near the island and I saw the stony dragons. They looked like statues, but the two claimed that they were alive and breathing. Fishy assured that they wouldn't bother us arriving, only exiting. They seemed to want to prove him wrong and started flying over to us. I inquired if they were certain that was the right island because I'd have gladly turned back. The Sentinels flapped their wings and these huge gusts of wind, nearly, knocked us out of the sky. Fishy was happy about that, due to it meaning that the dragons had adapted. I was less fascinated by that than I was concerned about not dying and another gust blew me off of Strykie's back. T. caught me before I went into the water and reunited myself with the Triple Stryke.

Some little dragons approached the island and were granted access. That was the final straw. If **those **sneaky, little, things appeared trustworthy enough to enter, weshould've been carried in on pedestals. I had Sleuther do a flip in the air and charge, full speed, with the others following behind. We made it through the Sentinels and Fishy praised me for knowing that we'd make it. [chuckles, sheepishly] To be honest, I had no idea that that was going to be the outcome. Staying there and doing nothing was just a non-factor, so I improvised. Since we were in, the dragons left us alone and we started looking. It felt like we were making this giant circle around the island and the only hope any of us had was Fishlegs finding some teeth. He actually called it out like it was something to be happy over too.

I thought that the stupid journal had led us to another, pointlessly, dangerous location, but Toothless started getting attracted to something. We followed the Night Fury and saw a giant skeleton. I agreed with Fishy that it was, indeed, something and realized that I didn't know why it was so important. It wound up being an additional thing that had been in the diary. My dad had been there before and Fishlegs pointed out that he **still** could have been. Through all my searching, I had never even considered the concept of him being alive somewhere. Just figured that we'd find some empty blanket and that would prove that he was gone. Him being around was more nerve-wracking than the other option was.

We flew through the skeleton and ended up, again, out in the forest. I heard some rustling and noticed those weird, little dragons from earlier flying around us. The other riders didn't seem to be paying attention, although Toothless took heed. The new dragons surrounded us and fired their teeth at Fishy, who was flung off of his Gronckle. We realized that they weren't even sick dragons and just hunters. What kind of jerks go after elderly or sickly prey? That's beyond cheating. T. tried to fend them off, but they were some resilient suckers. A few came at Sleuther and me, making him reel back. I got tossed over to Toothless and then our dragons managed to shoo them away. Fishlegs had an odd expression on his face and we turned to see what he was looking at: A hut.

The six of us walked over to the building and Hiccup noted that the door had been salvaged from one of our Berserker ships. A pit formed in my stomach as I knew that my dad had been shipwrecked. All this time, I thought that he just never wanted to come back, but he **couldn't**. Fishy wasn't sure what the proper protocol would be in that situation and my stomach's pit felt like it had grown spikes, tearing away at my insides. Backing away from the hut, I inquired if we should have gone for a snack. Anything to stall, really. I would've gone back to fight those dragons, if it meant that I wouldn't have had to go through that door for another century.

They looked at me and I pretended like I had been kidding about the whole snack break thing. Joking has been a great way of mine to disguise what I feel for longer than I can remember. Attempting to not show any weakness, I walked up to the hut's door. Opening doors is such a simple task, but I swear that it was the most impossible thing to do that day. All the foes that I had faced down, all the things that I had gone through, and couldn't stop thinking, "I can't do this." What if he **were **alive in there? What would he say? He'd have been there for so many years by that point that I was sure he'd have been furious. That he would hate seeing me-or just plain hate **me**. More of the guilt that I had felt earlier that day came and hit me like a catapult. Despite how much I wanted to keep my thoughts to myself, I was about to implode with them and had to say something.

The Berserkers were without a chief when Dad left. I never wanted him to go, but **s****omeone** had to lead them. They could be an...interesting bunch when they didn't have anybody directing them. I leapt at the opening for being chief and never looked back until that day at Vanaheim. How could he ever forgive me for being like that? The only thing he probably enjoyed during his stay on the island was not being around me. Hiccup told me to open the door and I wasn't too far off of hyperventilating. Had to do some quick "omm"s and everything, just to not start shaking. I went back to the door and looked behind me, kind of asking if I had to. Hiccup gave a, firm, nod and I opened the entrance. Looking around the room, I, quietly, called out for my father and saw something that hurt more than I ever thought it would.

I thought that the worst thing would be seeing our dad and getting it confirmed that he despised me, but I was wrong. The worst thing was him being gone and and getting it confirmed that it was my fault. I put his shield and helmet on a burial ground that I had made for him and just stayed on my knees for a moment. All those years had gone by and the great Berserker chief's fate was getting stranded on an island and dying alone. I knew the fear of almost meeting your end, by yourself. It was miserable and I'd never wish it on **any** of my family. Hiccup said that I didn't know where my dad had been, but that was only because I never sent out a search party. What kind of person wouldn't even look for their missing parent? Sure, we didn't get along and I was preoccupied with being evil, but family is more important than that. I should've put all those things aside and sent out the fleets. We have an enormous armada. **Somebody** would've found him, with time.

I was a terrible person and no amount of good in the present or future would change the past. Doing that was all I wanted. Hiccup tried to console me, but really only succeeded in making me feel worse. He concluded with saying that no matter how bad I had been, my dad still loved me. Such innocence. Something that I admired about Hiccup. In his world, families loved each other and peace could be attained by trying. I'll admit that I'd always been a bit envious of his relationship with Stoick. Even though they didn't see eye to eye for a while, there was never any real doubt in either of their hearts that the other loved them. Whether they had just finished an argument or disagreed about how something should have been handled, they always had the other's back. I didn't get those luxuries and never would.

Fishy called us in to the hut and had read that Dad had named the hunting dragons "Grim Gnashers". He'd protect the dragons on the island from them like the hero he was. Pride swelled in my chest at his heroism. T. started sniffing around and pulled a container off of a high rock, revealing two scrolls. One was for Heather and the other was-to my complete shock-for me. The next morning, I climbed up one of the stands that Dad had made and took a deep breath. Anything could've been in that letter, so I wanted to, mentally, prepare myself for it. He wrote about how he always loved Heather and I. That was great to know. Also, that he was fine with me taking over as chief. Said that he'd have done the same in my place and was-get this-**proud **of me! I never thought that those words, "love" and "proud", would be coming from Oswald and associated with me.

He went on to mention how he hoped that I had grown out of my crazy/destructive stage. Yeah, not so much a stage as a mental state, but I was working on it. He wrote that he was happy on the island, but regretted not being able to see Heather and I grow up. He hoped that I had protected her from the different evils of the archipelago, though. Not very accurate on that one either, but, again, I was working on it. Dad hoped that we would be able to be as content with our lives as he was with his...and his death. I set down the letter and looked at a flock of dragons flying nearby. The day was a beautiful one and a sense of peace entered me.

The sounds of a snarls and whimpers alerted me to a Gronckle that was being circled by some Grim Gnashers. The poor, little, thing. I whistled for Sleuther and ran to jump off the stand, landing on his back and flying towards the dragons. We knocked a Gnasher into the water, in the name of my dad, and stood our ground for the incoming attacks. Hiccup and Fishlegs arrived to help us and it was nice to have the backup. H. suggested that I go after the leader while Fishy protected the Gronckle. We went off and chased down the filthy reptile. It didn't know the island as much as it wanted to and we cornered the Grimmy against a rock wall. A blast made it go down and we pursued some more. A few more Gnashers followed **us** and shot at my head. Toothless fired at them, making them disperse, but there were a **lot** of them coming. Hiccup conceded that we needed more dragons on our side, if we wanted to win.

Suddenly, the Sentinels came and helped us fight off the Grim Gnashers. The little predators flew off and Sleuther and I went up after their leader. He fired at the hunter and we were all able to chase the beasts away like the, uninvited, vermin that they were. That island was Oswald's, not theirs to kill helpless dragons on. I hadn't been in too many fights without fatalities, but that one was really fun. Could've gone for some more kills, although it held its own against the others I've experienced. The Sentinels flew above us and Hiccup recommended that we leave. A part of me wanted to stay. Being on that island-something that my dad cared so much about-was like having some part of **him** around still. But, alas, we could not stay there forever. With a parting glance, I agreed that we should go.

The Sentinels went in front of us and Fishy wasn't sure if we should've gone back down for the fruit, but Hiccup said it, most likely, wouldn't work again. To all of our surprises, the rocklike dragons bowed their heads and moved aside. I didn't know what that meant and just hoped that it wasn't some pre-eating ritual. Without any fuss, though, they let us leave. I saluted to the dragons, only to be asked if I knew that they were blind. No, I didn't for your information. On the way back, Fishlegs was geeking over all the fruit recpies that Dad had made. Like I said before, cooking's in our blood. I complimented the Berkian on his love of knowledge and told Hiccup that I needed to get Heather her letter. It would defeat the whole purpose of the trip to not do that much.

He said that I could bring her there sometime, since we had earned the respect of the Sentinels. I couldn't believe that I had actually **earned **respect. Before, I just demanded it, but there was a certain sense of self-respect you got when you knew that you had earned someone else's. Hiccup commended me on going into the hut and stated that it was the bravest thing he's ever seen me do. That meant a lot and I let him know that I couldn't have done without him. Sleuther and I would always be there, if he ever needed someone for some crazy mission that he had. Fishlegs called over to us, looking at one of Dad's notes. On it was a dragon eye. One that said it belonged to Heather.


	23. Sins of the Past

Hiccup, Fishlegs, and I had arrived back at Berserker Island. Since I had taken the journal, I figured that Heather would've returned home to regroup and then headed back out while letting someone know where. I was **not** looking forward to speaking with her. She had gone through so much already and had tried so hard to find Dad. Having to tell her that it was all for nothing and that he had died seemed like the worst thing I'd ever have to say. I guess, I looked a little down because Hiccup noticed and asked if I were all right. I really don't like that question. Normally the honest answer is "no", but who wants to go into all of that? I kind of was in the middle of not being okay and not being mopey about it either. Fishy said that closure would make her feel better, but that's not how I wanted it to end.

One of my guards entered the stables to greet us-something that I missed while I was away from the island was being called "Chief". [chuckles] Just has such a nice ring to it. I inquired about Heather's location and he let me know that she had gone to the Northern Markets with Trader Johann. The merchant claimed that he knew someone that had seen our father. Immediately, we took off for the market to go get her. Fishy decided to state the obvious about how that meant they were walking into a trap. [sarcastically] Because we **sure** didn't know **that.** Just started flying, full speed, to their location for the heck of it. The riders are still an interesting bunch.

We made it to the market and I lost track of the other two vikings. Not sure if they got sidetracked or were just being slow because **I** was doing what we were supposed to be doing: interrogating people. I found some vendors that had seen her, but they got all flustered when I asked where she went. One was acting like I wasn't even speaking his language. I swear, his head was two seconds away from being displayed on a pole for my ship. **Finally**, I spotted the Berkians and told them about the uncooperative viking. He even tried to run away as soon as I set him down. Didn't get far, though, and I caught him by his arm. [laughs] I asked Hiccup what he thought that we should do. After all, I was trying to be more gentle than I had been in the past. Basically, H. dismissed that strategy and suggested that I try a more old-fashioned way of doing things. Worked for me. It felt kinda soft anyway, just dangling vikings.

I apologized for being so ineffective and grabbed another trader. There was a, perfectly placed, container of chicken feed and I slammed him into it. It worked like a charm and the viking started telling us about Heather. She, Johann, and Snotlout had been seen getting some chicken feed when a group of dragon flyers attacked them. Of course, I couldn't be **sure** it was Heather without clarification. He called her raven-haired, which is true, but a lot of people consfuse it with crow-like. If he saw a crow-haired viking, that wouldn't have been my sister. See the problem there? Hiccup didn't and thought I was being unreasonable. The merchant said the fight ended in a tie and our vikings headed North with the hunters on their tails.

I was about to thank the merchant when he started going on about how my sister would get really hurt, if the flyers caught up with her. That took it too far and I wanted to let him know how that chicken feed felt when it got grounded into paste. Hiccup wouldn't let me and without focusing on violence, my mind went to regret. If I hadn't brought up the crazy idea of finding Dad in the first place, Heather would never have been in danger. The Berkian assured me that she and Windshear were capable of handling themselves. Sure, I know Heather's good, but **I've **also taken her down. She's not invincible, so anything that has a danger level I'm not aware of, I don't want her to be forced into. Fishy mentioned that Snotlout was there too. Even though I was satisfied with the Berkian's fighting skills, him on a **dragon** had never looked good. Fishlegs defended him, though, and Hiccup had faith that we'd find my sis.

When we were flying, we saw Snotlout staring into the sea. That let me know that Heather was in the water and Strykie and I dove down to get her. Between you and me, that's what I was talking about in both regards. Heather was **not** all right. She was about to drown, as was Windshear. Snothat was no help-like I figured he'd be. Just hovered over the sea and waited for Heather's lifeless body to float back to the surface. I was proud of Sleuther for being able to lift the Berserker, Razor Whip, and cage out of the water. He sure is one strong dragon. The sight was just heartbreaking, though. Heather was hugging Windshear, letting her know that they'd die together. Not on my watch. We got them back in the air and I joked with her about not swimming at that time of year. Least with some light-hearted humor, we could distract ourselves from the horrific situation that could have occurred.

Heather told us that the dragon flyers had gotten her Dragon Eye lens. I had totally forgotten that Dad had given her that. We went after the vikings and shot at Krogan, making him drop the lens onto a ledge. Toothless swooped, so that Hiccup could grab it, but more flyers came and fired their blasts. They had to go back and Snotlout flew forward, charging at Krogan. Just as the Singetail's blast was about to get him, he threw a bag of chicken feed into it and it turned into all these little, puffy things. Snotty grabbed the lens and threw it to Hiccup, who had Toothless whack it to me. A flyer was right behind me, so I tossed it over to Fishlegs. He flung it back to Snotlout, who missed it because of Johann trying to grab at it too.

Honestly, I feel like the "toss the lens" game never should've started. I was the only one that had a real reason to toss it to somebody. With the Singetail being so close to Sleuther and I, the lense could have fallen and gone into the water. No one else really had anyone that near to them. Hiccup was upset about us having lost the lens-not like he couldn't have just caught and held on to it. Always had that option. The disappointment, though, in his voice just didn't settle well with me. It was like our loss was more meaningful than our gain. Luckily, Fishy reminded him that we had succeeded in the most important part of our mission: getting Heather and Windshear back, safely. We returned to the Edge and I broke the news to Heather. She read her letter and all we could do afterwards was embrace. It had been settled, we were all the family that each other had left. Us being few in numbers would not mean that we were any less a family and we'd be there for one another.


	24. In Plain Sight

I watched as Heather and Astrid flew off to Vanaheim. It stung a bit that my sis said that she needed to go alone, and then took the Berkian with her. I just hoped that she hadn't blamed me for our father's death like I do. The twins commented how strange it was that none of us noticed the Dragon Eye lens on her and they were right. I guess it was just in our faces so much that we overlooked it. I mentioned that it was a shame they didn't have another Dragon Eye because we could've used my lens. Dad had given one to both Heather and me. Nevertheless, neither of us knew what it was. Sure made a good spyglass, though, and a fire starter. I used to love that thing. More than a little bit due to it being the only nice thing Dad had ever given me.

Hiccup asked if I still had it, which I did not. That lens had been out of my possession for many years, but I knew where it was. H told me that he had made a new Dragon Eye-because he wouldn't have been Hiccup if he had done anything less. He called it "The Dragon Eye 2". Yeah, weak name-like the twins pointed out-but the good outweighed the bad and what really mattered was that he had made another one. I asked him if it worked, since l would've wasted time defending him otherwise, and all that he needed for it to do so were some gems so that the light could filter through.

Out of nowhere, Trader Johann showed up and started telling us how he could help find the gems. Something about him seemed a bit off, although I never really spent time with the guy, so maybe he was behaving, normally. It was just that he arrived so abruptly, practically goaded Hiccup into going to the Northern Markets-an **extremely** dangerous place-and insisted that he bring along the Dragon Eye and its lenses. Might have just been my, naturally, paranoid mind or I knew that something **was** off. The viking always seemed like a slimeball to me. Hiccup managed to convince him that Toothless could protect him and Johann agreed to go and help the Berkian. H said that the other riders could go with me to retrieve the lens, but the twins wanted to go with him. I was glad that they did-even if their reasoning was only to get a gift for Chicken. [sighs]

I led Fishlegs and Snotlout back to our docks on Berserker Island. Along the way, my stomach was in knots like you wouldn't believe. Desperately, I prayed that we'd be able to obtain the lens without any issues, but I doubted it. It was a tempting thought to bring Sleuther to help me take it, however, he'd go into full protective mode and would be a little different than what would be the "gentle leader" thing to do. After landing, we headed inwards towards the docks and I figured that I should inform the two before they found out for themselves. Put it on my own terms, you know? I let them know that I glad about them being there. Never would I have asked for them to come, but I'd have been lying if I said that I didn't appreciate the backup.

Naturally, Snots asked why and I admitted an unknown fact about my childhood. [inhales, deeply] When I was a kid, I got bullied by this guy, Ansson the Abominable. I tell you, as far as Berserkers go, he lived up to the name more than anyone I'd ever seen before. He was a lot older than I was-I'm not sure by how much, technically, but enough that I'd have never allowed that on my watch. The guy was tougher than Gronckle Iron, so even if you **could** land a hit in retaliation, it didn't do a darn thing. He was the meanest viking that I had been around too. He'd get you where it stung the most. Sure, that meant punches, kicks, and other attacks where you'd prefer them not to be, but also things that he'd say. Any hurtful or embarrassing things there could be about you, he'd exploit them. He was a main reason that I thought I needed to pretend I had killed Oswald. With everything that he said about me and had done to me, no one thought I'd be anything more than his hobby.

When I brought up Ansson's name, some vikings started laughing. They couldn't even think of "Abominable" being his moniker without busting a gut. Clearly, that surprised me. They pointed over to a ship and we saw the Berserker in question. He was way different than he had been the last time I saw him. I guess, I changed a lot too, but he got skinny instead of bigger. He looked a lot less...imposing when he wasn't as sturdy as a Gronckle. I approached the viking and tried to greet him, cordially, despite our past. 'Course him doing the same would've been too like right and he called me an old nickname that he used to: Dagur the Dainty. [grunts] I hated being called that. Pretty sure that's why I hate nicknames just overall, now. He ruins everything. It was a humiliating name and inaccurate. I am **not** dainty. [scoffs] Do a few things that others deem weird and you're pegged as the punk. What's so wrong about having manners, taking fruit baths, and doing that kind of stuff?

Snotlout and even Fishlegs started laughing at the name. I let Ansson know that I wasn't going to be called that anymore. **Especially** since I'm chief. He couldn't have cared less and just added "Chief" to the "Dainty" as he asked me why I was there. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much that bothered me and laughed it off. Told him about how he had borrowed something from me. He corrected me by saying that he **took** a lot of things. [growls] See what I dealt with? He was telling the truth. Anything that I had with me, he'd steal. Lost some of my favorite knives that way and, trust me, you didn't want him to have a weapon. That's why I got so good at hiding knives. You wouldn't even believe how many I have on me right now, nor be able to find them.

I tried to dismiss what he said and made the Dragon Eye lens sound as uninteresting as possible. Vaguely, he recalled it and thought that he might have had it around his ship. Said "Dainty" again and I was growing tired of hearing it. Snotlout popped in and questioned me on why I didn't just take it from the guy. Not like it would've been hard. Ansson, being the gross viking that he is, pulled a fish out of his beard during this time. As much as I wanted to run an ax through Ansson's, newly scrawny body, that was "old Dagur". I promised Heather that I'd try to lead by example and be more merciful. Fishy commended me on this, but Snotts was still against the idea. That made sense coming from him and he suggested that I find something that Ansson wanted, since bullies often wanted things. I never thought that he wanted anything more than to make my life a living nightmare, but maybe I was incorrect.

I brought some fishing nets over to Ansson, not without the thought of tangling him in them crossing my mind. He didn't want any, so I showed off the Gronckle Iron sword. It was a nice piece of weaponry that originally belonged to Fishlegs. He was, rightfully, surprised at seeing me with it, but after all the times I had laid siege to their islands, it would've been imbecilic to walk away with nothing. Fishlegs never asked for the sword back or anything, so I figured that I could hold on to it. Ansson didn't want that either and I returned it to Fishy. Totally exasperated, I asked what the heck it was that Ansson wanted. He told me that he wanted the Thunderfish, which, for your information, is a myth. No one had ever seen or heard a Thunderfish, but that was what Ansson wanted me to help him catch.

Sleuther and I went with Ansson on his ship to go get his mystery fish. The viking was looking for some bait and I was curious what he thought lured in a Thunderfish. When he pulled out some metals attached to a string and dumped them into the water, I figured that he had lost his mind during those three years I was gone. He claimed that Thunderfish were drawn towards shiny objects-like Smothering Smokebreaths to metal-and we just needed to wait. It seemed like jt would take forever for some fake fish to show up, but as soon as I groaned, the ship was dragged farther into the sea. After getting yelled at for taking too long, Strykie and I flew off to get the creature. We got closer and I saw that it wasn't a fish at all. It was a Scauldron. [chuckles] Funny thing is that Ansson has a Scauldron tattooed on his left arm. He always tattoos his obsession onto himself. **I'm **on his right arm.

I told Ansson that it was a Scauldron and he didn't believe me since "Dragons don't live in the water". Idiot. Sleuther blasted at the dragon and we tried to swoop down to grab at it, but weren't able to. We **did **manage to cut the rope that the reptile had grabbed, though, so the vessel was free to move without being thrashed to pieces. To Ansson, the only thing that mattered was that we failed to get the dragon. He was furious and the Scauldron rose up out of the water to blast us. I tackled the Berserker to the ground, preventing him from getting boiled. The dragon reeled back to spew another shot and Ansson pulled out the lens, using it to direct the sun's light into the dragon's eyes. After he had made it seem like he, barely, remembered the thing, I hadn't anticipated him having it on him the whole time.

We sailed back to the docks and vikings were already there, waiting to berate Ansson. I let them know that the "Thunderfish" was a Scauldron and they cackled. Full of shame, the Berserker started to sulk away. I knew that feeling of being ashamed around your fellow Berserkers. Heck, **he** had caused it, but being a good person meant that you even had to be kind to those who didn't seem like they deserved it. I stopped him and went on to explain that Scauldrons are very dangerous dragons and that he had done us all a great service by driving it away. Between keeping me from getting scaulded and making it so that fish would return to the harbors, it was a pretty helpful day. Snotlout started his trademark chant, using Ansson's name in place of his own, and everyone chanted too. Ansson smiled and I went back over to the Berkians. They asked where the lens was, but the deal was a strong one. It was that I had to catch a Thunderfish and I didn't. I'd keep true to my word and not complain. Correcting me again, but in a good way this time, Ansson said that I **had** earned the lens and he tossed it over to me. Even called me "Chief".

The three of us headed back to Dragon's Edge and Hiccup informed us all that Trader Johann had been a traitor this whole time. Nonetheless, Hiccup had gotten the gems and I handed him the lens. It showed five dragon classes, each that needed their own lens. We had three and the Berkian moved some in front of the light. This produced a new effect. Words appeared over the species' classes and stated that whoever found the five lenses first, would find the King of Dragons. It was a race against time and one that we had to win.


	25. Chain of Command

Since learning about Johann being a trader, we realized that Dragon's Edge wasn't a safe place for the Dragon Eye lenses anymore. He had been there too unsupervised and Berk **definitely** was a nonfactor. Hiccup and Snotlout were at another island-a "Wing Maiden Island" they called it. They sure had found a lot of different vikings during their time staying on the Edge. While the two Berkians were doing that, the other riders, Queen Mala, and myself were on Defenders of the Wing Island. We had to discuss the matter of where the lenses would go and they wanted to broaden their options beyond just Berserker Island.

Astrid recited what I told you about us needing a new place to hide the artifacts and Mala suggested her volcano. [sarcastically] Because **that** sounds like a wonderful location to keep things. I kind of couldn't believe she had actually recommended it and asked just to clarify. She was firm in her stance, as foolish as it seemed. According to her, their "Great Protector" could ensure their safety, but I'm not one to place all my burly cakes into one barrel. If something **were** to have happened to that dragon, all the lenses would have been covered in layers of lava and we'd never have been able to get them. She was not, one hundred percent positive, that the Eruptodon could've handled a full scale eruption-no shock there-and I suggested my island.

I had tested my guards and they were more than ready to handle any surprises that could come their way. It made total sense that the lenses would stay with us. Plus, Heather and I could protect them better than anyone else I could think of. Mala just had to go and bring up the whole coup thing with Savage and how our guards didn't know about it. [grunts] Okay, so **maybe** we didn't have that under control, but we'd improved and would've been able to defend the lenses. That betrayal was in the past. Why is it so hard for people to move on? Not like it didn't hurt enough having your own vikings turn against you. Didn't need to be reminded.

I had started rambling, trying to calm down. Every once in a while, meditation takes too long and I just need to vent a bit. Astrid interrupted this and suggested to us that we calm down. I don't like when people say that. The reason is that it's always so condescending. Like the person you're referring to doesn't know you're saying that for them and they're **that** out of control. I wasn't out of control. Not even very mad, just irritated. Let me breathe a bit, blondie. The other riders might let her say whatever she wants to them and treat them any way she likes, but I'm not one of them. At the end of the day, I'm back on my own island and she's following Hiccup's orders. No offense and we're still cool, however I just don't like when people try to overplay their say in matters.

After a, mildly enraged, roar, the Berkians were looking at me like I would go feral at any second. I tried to calm down faster, so they wouldn't worry, but I don't think it worked very well. Fishlegs stood up from the table and had Meatlug make a circle on the dirt with her tail. He said that they called it "common ground". Neither Mala nor I really got what he was talking about, although we were willing to see and walked over to test out his new theory. It failed, miserably. The queen and I couldn't stop arguing and poor Fishy was caught in the middle, attempting to mediate between us. I'd have stopped for his sake, but I wouldn't lie and say that I agreed with Mala. She kept claiming that her way was best and that she had been in more conflicts than I had.[scoffs] I've been in plenty of battles and have the scars and experience from them to prove that.

Trying to let us comprehend each other better, Fishlegs told me that Mala was **still** talking about all her wars. She even brought my hair into the matter. Could we not just keep the argument fuel relegated to what's disagreed on and not our appearances? Her whole "plan" was based off of hope. You can't do that. Hope's nice and all-as she kept yelling-but it's not a plan. No matter how hard you want it to be. Fishy moved out of the way, using self-preservation-m, as Mala and I squabbled some more. We were so bad that even the twins wanted us to stop. They told us about some mediating they had done and we tried out their ideas. Their ideas aren't half as bad as the others will make you think. I sort of like the wildness and creativity their brains have, so testing out their suggestions seemed fun.

I just about loved their first recommendation. It was that Mala and I would go up on these tightropes, that were connected to some trees, and see who can knock the other off first. We got spears and everything. Now, **that's** how to mediate! [laughs] Mala had some good balance, but I do too and it ended up being a tie. Neither of us were falling and the twins got bored, so we moved on to a new obstacle. Another one that we had to do, I did **not **like the idea of. It involved me being blindfolded-first issue-and walking over a lava-y spot. The only thing that would keep me from melting my foot off was Mala, hopefully, guiding me. Considering how much we'd been arguing, I had hoped that she didn't take any of it too personally. The things I said genuinely weren't meant as insults, just difference of opinions.

Mala wasn't **that **mad at me and we crossed back to the cool ground. I had never done trust exercises before, probably never **would **have either since I had a hard time with relying on others. It was weird and cool that my certainty in her hadn't been in vain. Her turn was up and she got blindfolded too. What she had to do was fall backwards off a cliff with the trust that I'd catch her. She's a light, little thing and it was easy making sure that she was all right. Oddly enough, despite not being heavy, she's not as skinny as I thought she was by looking at her. Not that she's out of shape at all. She's got some nice meat on her bones and is muscular. I-I like that. [chuckles, sheepishly] Mentioned that too and she wanted to make sure that she heard me right. Had to try to take it back before things got weird.

Mala seemed a bit amused and there was an almost awkward silence as we stood next to each other. I noticed that Mala was actually really smart and tough. It was cool that she was a leader as well. I thought about all these great things about her and more when Astrid alerted us to Hiccup being in danger. In a flash, Mala and I hopped onto Strykie's back. She's so graceful. Should've seen the way she leapt onto the reptile's saddle. We flew off towards Wing Maiden Island and found Snotlout about to be hit by Krogan and his Singetail. Sleuther blasted the two in time, sparing Snotty the painful impact. The Singetail fired at us and Mala instructed Strykie to roll. She had good timing and we maneuvered around the shots. Flying to their side, Sleuther blasted the hunter and dragon.

The flyers were outmatched and Krogan knew that he had to retreat. Sleuther and I would've finished them, but I figured that the riders wouldn't have condoned the violence. Instead, we let them fly away. [sighs] It was simple to brighten up, since I realized how well Mala and I had worked together. She noticed it too and we commented about it at the same time. How cool is that? It was a sign! We were so in sync that it seemed so strange that we hadn't gotten along, at first. Mala agreed and wasn't even hesitant to touch my arm. [giggles] The way she said my name was really sweet too. All royal-like.

Everyone decided that the lenses should stay with the Wing Maidens on their island. We'd figure out where to go from there, but for the time being, Mala and I had some plans of our own. After finally seeing eye to eye, we wanted to get to know each other better. Do things like hang out on one another's island-without it being for business-and learning what each other liked. It was a totally different experience for me and I was excited for that. From what it looked like, it was the start of a beautiful relationship.


	26. Mi Amore Wing

Mala and I had flown back to Dragon's Edge to give the riders our good news. After getting our differences settled back with the whole "hiding the Dragon Eye lenses" thing, we had grown really close. To both of our surprises, we had a lot in common. It's great to have someone that understands how awesome it is to attack a foe. The Berkians can get a little too peace-loving for my taste, sometimes. With realizing **those **similarities, Mala and I found even more. She's wonderful to be around. Between all the...distractions I used to have and the fact that I never found the right viking, Mala was the first person I found myself in love with. Our relationship is one of respect and comaraderie. **Attraction **too, of course. [chuckles]

I proposed to Mala and went through the Defenders of the Wing King Trials. They were really fun! Going across the lava, I think, was my favorite. Th only part that I wasn't feeling too much was the eel maze. Not that the eels were the issue, but I can't say I **loved **them being at waist level. The water was clear enough, though, so it wasn't a real problem. They offered up a feast, when we got to the last trial. [scoffs] Who wanted to eat? I'd celebrate as soon as Mala and I were set to be married and not a moment before. The last one was taking an arrow for her-which was, by far, the easiest of the trials. Arrows don't faze me and it was a cinch. On our way to the riders, Mala told me that Snotlout had taken the trials too. Apparently, he had, accidentally, saved her and had been in the running to be her husband also. For his sake, I hoped that he had moved on. I don't get how Hiccup lets him still flirt with Astrid the way he does, but I'm not one that would do the same.

We told the Berkians of our engagement and I'm pretty sure they thought we had gotten attacked. The arrow was still in my back and, without context, that had the possibility of seeming alarming. I ended up requesting that they help me with it. So hard to see back there. Plus, H did a nice job with the other instance. The riders wanted some more info on how Mala and I were getting married. They seemed a bit surprised and it made sense. After all, we weren't quite copacetic for the majority of our last encounter. Our story was simple. I noticed that I was spending too much time doing things that didn't matter. With Heather **still** at Vanaheim-I swear, I didn't know if she'd ever return. The only thing that I could do to keep from flying over there and dragging her back was exercise. Refocus on something.

Mala got me to realize that you don't have to work yourself until exhaustion, to keep a clear head. Having someone around that you can talk to, does that, just fine. We both had a lot of things to vent about, us being leaders and all, and the other was willing to listen. It was a nice relief for us. We didn't have to be anything special for our tribes or even the riders. We found a safe place in each other and it was one that neither of us wanted to leave. With that in mind, we wondered **why **leave it, then? There was nothing keeping us from being together. Throk and Heather were good enough second-in-commands that Mala and I could alternate with living on both islands. It was the perfect deal!

She and I couldn't keep our hands off of each other and did our usual eskimos, butterflies-I love those-and beard tickles.[sighs, dreamily] She really is the best. Fishlegs didn't mind, but Snotlout thought it was too sappy. [scoffs] Just jealous. If he had been in my place, he wouldn't have minded. He mentioned to Hiccup and Astrid that they never did anything all romantic like. I'm not sure what he was seeing, but from what I saw and what the twins told me, they spent **plenty **of time together doing that kind of stuff. They might not do it every second, but maybe every other. Speaking of the twins, they started talking about planning Mala's and my wedding. Yeah, no. I appreciate them being the matchmaker for us. I reallydo, but there was no way I'd give them **that** **much** responsibility. We were planning our own wedding. That way, we'd have exactly what we wanted. I was sort of annoyed that the twins interrupted our snuggling for that.

[dramatically] Alas, Mala and I were not to be joined at the bludgeon. The riders had some scrap metal that they didn't need, but didn't want to waste either. They knew some dragon called an "Armorwing" and we dumped the metal down for it. Even the thought of seeing a cool new dragon was nothing more than en empty, abstract, mirage when Mala was not there. I could've brought her with us, but **no**. The riders insisted that she stay. And with the twins, who were, no doubt, beginning our wedding preparations. My poor, beloved. I caught Hiccup and had to ask him an important question. With all that we had been through, it seemed only natural that he be there for my wedding day. He's my best friend-other than Mala-and I inquired if he would be my best man too.

Hiccup was acting like the question was an odd one and was being very indescisive. How hard of a request was it? Can you, or can't you? It was a "yes" or "no" question and the answer had better have been "yes". He didn't know the date, so it wasn't like he could say that he'd be busy. According to him, he didn't know what to say, so I told him. Might as well save him time in looking for the correct words. I mean, the only reply that would have garnered such a contemplative time in forming would have been if he declined my offer. [laughs, disturbingly] Which **couldn't **have been what he was planning. How rude would that have been? Obviously, he wasn't planning to turn me down and agreed that he would be there. Everything was right in the world, once more and I gave him a hug in thanks.

The Armorwing came and started welding the scrap to its body. Guess it earned that name. Astrid tried to get Hiccup to notice something and he noticed a Dragon Eye lens on its back. She was talking more along the lines of the necklace that she was wearing, but he took it another way. It was evident that this annoyed her, but it would've been shocking if Hiccup **h****adn't **picked up something about a dragon faster than anything else around him. We had to get the lens before a hunter, flyer, or any other evil viking got to it. Hiccup went to do his trademark "hand" move and I gave him an encouraging clap on the back, telling him to not die before my wedding. Preferably not **afterwards**, either, but it would've really sucked if he had missed it.

H almost got the dragon to trust us, however some hunters shot at it and the reptile panicked, running away. The flyers flew off, but they were scouts-although good luck convincing Snotlout of that. This just pushed up our time for having to get that lens even faster. We started our reptile tracking and Astrid was in a big mood because of Hiccup. He went on about how he didn't know what was wrong, but wanted to. Bad move. She responded with the customary passive aggressive reply. I've had my fair share of experiences with passive aggressive people. They can be more difficult than someone just lunging at you with an ax. Snotlout and I started commenting on how H should've handled the situation. Basically, do **anything** other than what he did. Astrid was really upset about him not noticing the necklace-which was a betrothal pendant. That **is **worse than not recognizing some new jewelry.

Both vikings were being odd. Hiccup should have paid more attention and, at the same time, it really wasn't the time for Astrid to be all peeved over such a small symbol. You can't put so much faith in an object. We found the dragon again and, since it loves metal, I figured that we could use some as a gift. Everyone likes presents and Snot**hat's**[chuckles] helmet seemed like the perfect candidate. The Armorwing wasn't preferring the style and he flung it into the Jorgenson. We had to chase him back down and it flew right to where Krogan was. He did his villain monologue and brought out more flyers. Also said that unlike Hiccup, he didn't care if his team died. I've never understood that with vikings. Even back when I was bad, I cared about my Berserkers. Certainly didn't behave like I did, but I didn't want any of them to perish. You have to imagine, too, that the team would feel a little more reluctant to do their best when they **know **you couldn't care less about them.

We tried to fend off against the hunters and the Armorwing had another move. He would remove a piece of metal, light it on fire, and throw it. Powerful, yes, but a risky one that left him without some protection. Because of this, Krogan shot him down and we had to hide him in a cave. See the thing about being forced into a cave, while you're under attack, is that your enemies can focus all of their fire on keeping you there. As a blast zoomed past me, I had to agree with Snots that we needed to move, **quickly**. Hiccup had to come up with a plan. I'd have done it myself, but under such circumstances, the riders would've only really wanted to listen to somebody that they had trusted with their lives for years. Hiccup and Astrid were still spending precious moments on their dispute, but she went over to him and got his head back in the game.

His plan was...something. I had to fly off with Strykie, making the flyers think that I was trying to flee with the lens. In actuality, Hiccup had it and he, along with the others, would transport the Armorwing elsewhere. Between us, what I would have done is send out Snotlout. Hookfang is a fast dragon and he would've been able to keep them distracted for a while. I love Strykie, but he's not the speediest flier. He's strong as all heck, though. Which is why he should have been there to move Armory. He could've done it by himself and not even have been hindered by the weight. To make matters worse, they didn't wait long enough for Krogan and them to actually get out of seeing range before they took off. [sarcastically] Sure hope no one spots the group of dragons flying away. Oh no, they did.

Krogan was gaining on Hiccup and Astrid, preparing to shoot them down. Can't have that, so Strykie blasted them. Seemed like the two had forgotten about us. Nonetheless, I'll always treasure the chance to surprise someone. He was a little bitter about us hitting them and tried to take my head off with a blast. We got Krogan off of the Berkians' backs, but he started going after us. Like I told you, Strykie's not the speediest and the Singetail was a lot closer to than either of us would have preferred. The dragon blasted my baby twice. [grunts] If we were going to be taken down, we'd go down fighting and not running. By some chance, if we made it, it would be for Malapoo. We turned and charged headfirst at the flyer, readying ourselves for the impact.

Before we could collide, Hiccup called out and dropped the lens into the sea. I appreciated the sentiment, but he really didn't need to do that. They could've gotten the Armorwing to safety and Strykie and I, probably, would have been fine. After getting the Armorwing to a safer location, we returned to the Edge. I was so happy to be with Mala again. We had a lot of cuddling to catch back up on. **Again**, the twins interrupted us. This time, it was them worrying about her trying to kill me. That's kinda sweet of them, honestly, but they were misinformed. The Dance of Blades was an actual dance that Mala and I would perform on blades of grass. [laughs] Though, I **can **see where they misunderstood its meaning. The Berkian couple reconciled and kissed, with Mala giving me a meaningful glance because of it. [blushes] We **might** have gone back inside for a similar action. Soon, we'd have all the time in the world and I couldn't wait for that.


	27. King of Dragons

While the wedding for Mala and I was pending, in the meantime, I was on Berserker Island with Heather. Even after I'd be King of Defenders of the Wing Island, I would still be chief of the Berserker Tribe and that wasn't something that I was willing to abdicate. Mala and I had agreed that we'd take turns going to each island. You know, three months here, three months there. Just doing that back and forth between the two. That way, everyone would get led by their original leader **and **we'd be able to get settled on whichever island we were on. In my absence, though, Heather would be in charge. Likewise, Throk would be the head of Caldera Cay when Mala was with me.

I knew that she could handle the responsibility and was out with her, patrolling the island. It was very tranquil. Everyone was doing their jobs and being overall content. [groans] It was so boring! I'm all for not having my people in battle every second of their lives, but sitting around and doing nothing isn't my style. Personally, I need some action. It was hard trying to seem like a peace-loving chief when all you really want to do is take out foes. Luckily, my boredom was not chronic as a horn sounded off. That surprised me since we hadn't been expecting any guests. I didn't even get all fixed up for a visitor-as would be the proper thing for a host to do.

Heather looked through a spyglass and told me that they were uninvited guests. She handed it to me, so that I could see Johann's ships and the fliers. That's what I had been waiting for! I could, hardly, wait to knock some vikings senseless. Heather and I got into fighting stances and readied ourselves for battle. I told my Berserkers to aim the arrows and catapults at the ships behind the fliers, then wait. I'd give the signal for them to fire. My soldier asked if I were crazy. Technically...yes, but that wasn't a secret, so why seem surprised? My plan wasn't to just let the hunters kill us. I knew that if we fired at the group with the fliers there, they would just blast the ammo and we'd miss everyone. Also, I knew that the dragons had been unable to come close to the island-for whatever reason. Hold off until the reptiles have to stop and we're all set for a clear shot.

The fliers approached us and the anticipation was enough to churn your stomach. Just like I had planned, the hunters had to stop when they got too close to our island. The dragons just can't handle whatever is over here. After the reptiles were so disoriented that they had to disperse, we shot at the ships. Nothing was in the line of fire, so we didn't have to worry about some Singetail shooting the boulders out of the way and saving the vessels. Within a few moments, the ships were hit and sinking. Krogan must have realized that you need to fly over the island because that's what the vikings did. Right when they thought that they were in the clear, the riders came and attacked them. With my Berserkers taking care of the fleets and the Berkians going after the fliers, it wasn't long before they had to retreat.

Back on the island, Heather was wondering why Johann and the fliers had attacked us. From everything that we had seen, it made sense that they'd be more worried about finding that king of dragons rather than finishing a petty grudge against she and I. That's when we learned about the dragon being on our island. The reptile was probably burrowed under the island-I was guessing it stayed in that hallow, icy, cavern area. A defense mechanism that it used was the reason the other dragons couldn't fly over the land. Also, it could control the minds of other reptiles. It was one of those things that you don't really think about, but as soon as you find it out, it makes total sense. Of course, the king of dragons was a Berserker. Come on, is there really any other option? My island breeds more leaders than any I've seen.

I asked what else the king of dragons could be-in a very rhetorical manner, mind you-and the twins suggested that it was their Uncle Fenris. [sighs] Sometimes, it can be challenging to deal with them. I try, though, I swear, I try. I started to ask them what they were talking about, before I recalled that it would make no sense and just ended up asking the rest. The brother-sister pair began explaining and, like I said, it made no sense. Apparently, the guy went missing when they were kids, but that didn't mean that he was a king of dragons. Astrid had, evidently, had enough of their foolishness and pressed to know why they said all the irrational things that they did. [scoffs] As if any of us had that kind of time. Tuff got upset and inquired if she wanted them to be uncreative like the rest of us. Called us simpletons too. I, kind of, took offense to that. I'm **very **creative and far from a "simpleton"; however, there's a time and place for imaginations to run rampid and trying to not get laid siege to was not the time.

The twins conceded enough to attempt being serious and Ruff spotted some more hunters coming up to the harbor. Some new vikings were attacking from the South while the same ones returned to the North. The siblings started saying something else, but I wasn't paying attention. I was too preoccupied with our people being in danger. It was terrible. Explosions everywhere, innocent vikings thrown to and fro, and no way to tell how to help them. It was hard to even believe that, just that day, I had been wanting a battle. The dragons were still in the stables, but that didn't matter to Heather or me. We'd just as quickly rescue our vikings without the reptilian fliers as we would **with **them. Hiding wasn't in our vocabulary and the last thing we would do is just let everyone die.

Hiccup claimed that we weren't hiding-despite the fact that we were staying just out of the attackers' sights while people were in peril. Kind of the **literal **definition of hiding, H. According to him, survival chances were low without dragons. We didn't say that he had to come too. Hiccup kept wanting everyone to be calm. That's not how to solve the problem. Sure, being calm and level headed is useful, but you have to stay strong and fight too. Otherwise, you'll "calmly" watch as you lose your war. Before we could decide who would make the next call, the Wingmaidens arrived. Hiccup had sent them a note, requesting their backup, and they took out a lot of vikings. Always nice to have more allies that can aid you when you're in a pickle.

The only thing we couldn't figure out was, how did their Razorwhips get through the island? Hiccup thought that it was because of their brains being underdeveloped, but I was more inclined to believe that it meant we had an opening. If the fledglings were utilizing some sort of unaffected tunnel type of space, we could use that for **our **dragons as well. We tried out that idea and mounted up on our scaly friends. Astrid and H spoke for a bit and got some kissing in, real quick. Afterwards, Astrid came over and we flew off to stop the hunters. Heather, the twins, Mala, and I were to go with the Wingmaidens and do a full frontal attack. An engagement, if you would. Just like Mala's and mine. [sighs, dreamily] One last battle for she and I as a non married couple. Every one from that point on would be as chief and chieftess, queen and king.

Mala agreed with how cool our fight would be, by giving me a kiss on the cheek. [chuckles] Couldn't wait for more of **that **kind of stuff when we weren't in battle. The twins, also, liked the plan of charging at the enemies and Ruff let her brother know that she was with him. Heather seconded the notion and we attacked. I loved how far she and I had come in our relationship. We had gotten to the point of really being there for each other and willing to cover each other's back. We all commenced the assault and fired at every ship we could find. Even with all the vikings that there were on our side, the Singetails were still too many. We could have lost if more dragons hadn't arrived. The king of dragons had called just about every dragon in existence to come help defend him. We welcomed the help and things were looking up.

We took out hunters and fliers, left and right. Strykie got one in each tail and flung them into three more. As the hunters' ships were in ruins, a large, purple, dragon and a Singetail combined their fire. It was like some celebration and one that we all took part in. It was a joyous moment. After all the fighting that we had done with those villainous vikings, we finally had a serious win. Nothing's permanent, so I didn't expect that to mean that we would never have foes again, but for the time being we were good. Hiccup had gotten a little king of dragon egg from Krogan and Johann. Both had been, completely, incapacitated, so they wouldn't be issues anymore. The Wingmaidens knew someone who could keep the egg safe and we handed it over to them. The Berkians left the Edge and destroyed the Dragon Eye. A shame, but it made sense becauss of all the trouble we had gone through to keep it out of the wrong hands.

Even with everything that occurred, the highlight of that time, to me, was the wedding. Mala looked beautiful as always and I cleaned up too. While having a beard was nice, especially giving Mala beard tickles, having a **scraggly **beard for a wedding was gauche. I figured that I'd grow it back, anyway, and I have. A lot fuller now too, since I've been in a much healthier state. Our wedding was great, though. Shattermaster was the ringbearer and looked as happy as he could be. I'd have put Strykie up there with us too, but he was just a bit too large for the space provided. My best man, Hiccup, was small enough without being squeezed into an area.

Mala and I put the rings on each other and wound up cementing our union with a kiss. This was a new chapter in both of our lives and we couldn't have felt more jubilation. We would lead side by side and, with time, have heirs of our own to lead our people. A fresh start was beginning and there was no one that I would have rather spent it with than Malapoo. Well, that's all I have to really say about our adventures. We've had a good deal since then, but I think that I've talked your ear off enough by now. Stay safe and a little wild, my brothers and sisters.


End file.
